The Sworn Book of Honorius: Liber Iuratus Honorii with Text, Translation and Commentary by Joseph Peterson (Ibis Press, 2016) Hardcover

 Joseph Peterson. The Sworn Book of Honorius: Liber Iuratus Honorii. Lake Worth, FL: Ibis Press, 2016. Hardcover. 334 pages.

Condition: Fine in a Near Fine dust jacket.

Description from the publisher: 

One of the oldest and most influential texts on medieval magic (dating to the fourteenth-century)

• Translated for the first time since a partial translation was done in the sixteenth-century.

• Complete system of magic: including how to attain the divine vision, communicate with holy angels, and control aerial, earthly, and infernal spirits for practical gain

• Key text used by John Dee, who owned two of the most important manuscripts, influencing his Enochian magic and its modern derivatives.

• Largely ignored by historians until recently, this text is an important witness to the transmission of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism to Christians

• Includes the complete Latin text, carefully checked against known manuscripts, and related texts in Latin, German, and English

• Brings new light to obscure elements found in other texts (like Heptameron)

As the title testifies, students were sworn to secrecy before being given access to this magic text, and only a few manuscripts survive. Nevertheless, it is considered one of the most influential magic texts. Bits of its teachings are alluded to in other texts, like the use of the magic whistle for summoning spirits. Another key element of its ritual, the elaborate “Seal of God,” has been found in texts and amulets throughout Europe.

Interest in the Sworn Book of Honorius has grown in recent years, being discussed at length in several recent books, yet no modern translations have been attempted. A critical edition of the Latin text by Gösta Hedegård (2002), has already become somewhat dated by new research.

Purporting to preserve the magic of Solomon in the face of intense persecution by religious authorities, this text includes one of the oldest, most detailed, and complete magic rituals. It is aggressively pro-magic, countering that the persecution and anti-magic hysteria were themselves inspired by demons seeking to suppress the divine art.

Joseph H. Peterson has translated many esoteric and religious sourceworks. He has amassed a large collection of copies of rare and occult tracts for comparative research from the British Library and other institutions, which he shares at his award-winning websites esotericarchives.com and avesta.org. Peterson’s published works include The Book of Oberon: A Sourcebook of Elizabethan Magic (2015), The Clavis or Key to the Magic of Solomon (2009), Arbatel (2009), The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (2008), Grimorium Verum (2007), John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery (2003), The Lesser Key of Solomon (2001), and The Afrinagan Service (2005). He has also contributed to Scriptures of the World's Religions (1998), as well as Document-Based Questions (World History/Ancient Civilizations) (2006).