Grimorium Verum

The Grimorium Verum, 'true grimoire', is a French handbook of spirit conjuration whose title page claims to have been printed in Memphis by 'Alibeck the Egyptian' in 1517. The imprint is fictitious, and the British Library catalogues its copy as 1817; the work belongs to the same popular publishing culture as the Grand Grimoire and the Grimoire of Pope Honorius, though its content is older and goes back to Italian manuscripts of the Secrets of Solomon. It presents three chief spirits, Lucifer, Beelzebuth and Astaroth, each with subordinate officers, and a further list of eighteen spirits under Syrach with their powers and seals. The first part explains the characters of the spirits and how to call and dismiss them, the second gives natural and supernatural secrets, and the third, the key of the work, covers preparation: consecration of the knife, virgin parchment, ink and circle, and conjurations, together with operations such as the mirror of Solomon, divination and love and treasure workings. A. E. Waite and later Idries Shah praised the Italian editions as superior, but Joseph Peterson's comparison of the printed exemplars shows that the Italian versions of 1868 and 1880 derive from the French. The archive provides all three. Peterson's 2007 edition, which also used manuscript evidence, remains the main English critical text, and the book has a significant place in modern demonolatry and left-hand-path practice.

What it contains

• Lucifer, Beelzebuth and Astaroth and their officers
• Eighteen spirits under Syrach with powers and seals
• Characters for calling and dismissing spirits
• Natural and supernatural secrets
• Consecration of knife, parchment, ink and circle
• Mirror of Solomon, divination, love and treasure operations