Zecorbeni, or the Key of Solomon (Bodleian MS Aubrey 24)

Bodleian MS Aubrey 24 preserves a Latin Key of Solomon in four books under the title Zecorbeni, copied in 1674 by the antiquary John Aubrey. Aubrey noted that he transcribed it from a book written by an Italian and that it had never been printed. The title links it to another important witness, British Library Add. MS 10862, whose second item is called Zecorbenei and is attributed to a Pietro Mora; Mathers regarded Add. 10862 as the oldest Latin Key available to him. According to Peterson, the Aubrey copy often matches the wording of Add. 10862 but avoids many of its errors, is fuller, preserves older spellings, and is arranged in a more logical order, bringing it closer to the influential Colorno family of manuscripts. That makes it a valuable control text for anyone trying to sort out the Latin tradition behind the many French and English versions. The manuscript also contains a version of the Sigillum Dei, which is why it appears among the witnesses to that seal. Aubrey himself is best known for his Brief Lives and his collections of folklore and antiquities; his interest in magical texts fits the broader seventeenth-century antiquarian curiosity about the occult that also produced Elias Ashmole's collections. Peterson has published a digital transcription of the manuscript as a free PDF.

What it contains

• Zecorbeni title and four-book arrangement
• Prayers, conjurations and the order of the art
• Pentacles and their consecration
• Instruments, circle and preparatory rites
• A version of the Sigillum Dei
• Aubrey's note on the Italian exemplar