The Key of Knowledge (Clavicula Salomonis)
The Key of Knowledge (Clavicula Salomonis)
Transcribed from British Library, Additional manuscript 36674.
Edited by Joseph H. Peterson
The present text is a sixteenth century English translation of the Key of Solomon, the most famous of Grimoires, or handbooks of magic.
In producing his 1889 edition of the Key of Solomon, three manuscripts escaped S.L. Mathers' attention, or he chose to neglect them. They are Sloane 3645, 3847, and Additional Ms. 36,674. All three are in English. It is not clear to me why he did not mention them, but they do not in fact seem to have been used by him, as the wordings and layout are quite different. Mathers' translation seems to be mainly from the Colorno class of manuscripts written in French.
The following is a complete transcription of the English Key of Solomon from Add. 36674, with alternate readings from Sl. 3645. The Add. manuscript dates to mid- to late-16th century. Add. 36674 also appears to be in the same hand as that found in the beginning of Sloane 3854. Sl. 3645 is dated 17th century [1], and seems to be based solely on the earlier manuscript. The drawings included here are based on those in the Sloane manuscript, as they are more legible, and were copied very closely from the older manuscript.
The catalog entry reads as follows:
36674. COLLECTIONS relating to Magic and Witchcraft from the papers
of various 16th and 17th century astrologers, finally put together
probably in the library of John Somers, Lord Somers (v. catalogue
in Harl. MS. 7191, f. 158 b). The table of contents on f. 3 is in
the same hand as Somers' catalogue. Artt. 1-4 belonged early in
the 17th cent. to Gabriel Harvey, the poet and friend of Spenser,
who has annotated them throughout
(compare the hand with
Add. MS. 32494). Art. 10 and probably some other articles were
collected by Elias Ashmole. Later owners are noticed below.
Contents:-
1. "Here begynneth the booke of Kynge Solomon called the Kay
of Knowledge," to which Harvey adds "Clavicula Salomonis.
Extat Latine: et legi." In two books. There are many treatises
with similiar titles, but this does not agree with the Clavicula
edited by S. L. M. Mathers (London, 1889), nor with the treatise
known as Lemegeton. The first rubric is "Orysons to be sayde
when you coniure," and the last "Here follow the the manner howe
to make the Pentacle." In a late 16th cent. hand. f. 5.
Contrary to what the catalog entry states, nearly all of this text does in fact closely parallel Mathers' edition, although the wording is simpler in the present text.
Transcribed from British Library, Additional manuscript 36674.
Edited by Joseph H. Peterson
The present text is a sixteenth century English translation of the Key of Solomon, the most famous of Grimoires, or handbooks of magic.
In producing his 1889 edition of the Key of Solomon, three manuscripts escaped S.L. Mathers' attention, or he chose to neglect them. They are Sloane 3645, 3847, and Additional Ms. 36,674. All three are in English. It is not clear to me why he did not mention them, but they do not in fact seem to have been used by him, as the wordings and layout are quite different. Mathers' translation seems to be mainly from the Colorno class of manuscripts written in French.
The following is a complete transcription of the English Key of Solomon from Add. 36674, with alternate readings from Sl. 3645. The Add. manuscript dates to mid- to late-16th century. Add. 36674 also appears to be in the same hand as that found in the beginning of Sloane 3854. Sl. 3645 is dated 17th century [1], and seems to be based solely on the earlier manuscript. The drawings included here are based on those in the Sloane manuscript, as they are more legible, and were copied very closely from the older manuscript.
The catalog entry reads as follows:
36674. COLLECTIONS relating to Magic and Witchcraft from the papers
of various 16th and 17th century astrologers, finally put together
probably in the library of John Somers, Lord Somers (v. catalogue
in Harl. MS. 7191, f. 158 b). The table of contents on f. 3 is in
the same hand as Somers' catalogue. Artt. 1-4 belonged early in
the 17th cent. to Gabriel Harvey, the poet and friend of Spenser,
who has annotated them throughout
(compare the hand with
Add. MS. 32494). Art. 10 and probably some other articles were
collected by Elias Ashmole. Later owners are noticed below.
Contents:-
1. "Here begynneth the booke of Kynge Solomon called the Kay
of Knowledge," to which Harvey adds "Clavicula Salomonis.
Extat Latine: et legi." In two books. There are many treatises
with similiar titles, but this does not agree with the Clavicula
edited by S. L. M. Mathers (London, 1889), nor with the treatise
known as Lemegeton. The first rubric is "Orysons to be sayde
when you coniure," and the last "Here follow the the manner howe
to make the Pentacle." In a late 16th cent. hand. f. 5.
Contrary to what the catalog entry states, nearly all of this text does in fact closely parallel Mathers' edition, although the wording is simpler in the present text.
