We’ve got mail from a few past months to answer, and I do apologize for the delay in getting back to people. That is, unless you’re with the Order of the Hidden Masters, in which case, no apology – but just keep being you.
Lordzick Appenteng Aboagye says:
Please I need your to help, step by step on how to use this book. The Ars Notoria of King Solomon. Kindly help me, I need to use this book.
Here’s the problem, Lordzick. First, that’s not what this blog is for. Second, most editions of the text don’t include the all-important illustrations for meditation and prayer. You might check the Palatino edition for those, and I hope you’ll get this in time for your quadrivium test.
dumbpost13 says:
“Before I discuss my concerns, which are relatively minor, I should extend considerable kudos to Jake for all of this work. This is the sort of in-depth examination that desperately needed to be done, in order to start charting out more of the history of magic, and that requires considerable patience and access to texts to carry out. ” Rather sad when you think about it.
That it is, indeed.
I should give one mitigating piece of information. According to his CV, Jean-Patrice Boudet is working on a book entitled Les catalogues de démons attribués à Salomon et à saint Cyprien, to be released by the SISMEL publishers of Florence. (SISMEL has also released scholarly editions of the Almadel and Ars Notoria, so it deserves the It hasn’t appeared yet, as far as I can tell.) It’s not clear when it will appear, as it’s not listed on the publisher’s site as of yet.
Allan Grohe says:
I’m not previously-familiar with PSU’s Magic in History series; what books in the series have you found most useful for gaming inspirational research?
PSU’s series is mostly pitched for academics, so I’m cautious about recommending much of the line for gaming research, without having a particular topic in mind. Two of the more accessible ones are Butler’s Ritual Magic and Ryan’s The Bathhouse at Midnight. The latter focuses on Russia, but it’s still great enough to receive a general recommendation. I’m also re-reading Kieckhefer’s Forbidden Rites; the bulk of it is Latin, but the introduction has several translations and much information about medieval ritual magic that makes it worthwhile.
Mattster comments:
Congrats on the inclusion in the MIH series. Hammer’s book sounds really interesting, but $98 for a paperback? I will have to call upon many spirits of prosperity….
I am sorry to hear it. The high price of books dealing with ritual magic, I think, is a good topic for its own post.
Keep those comments coming!
Papers Falling from an Attic Window 
Poor Lordzick Appenteng Aboagye!
Boudet stated back in 2007 that an edition of de officiis spirituum and its variants would form the next volume of the Salomon Latinus series, and it’s been listed on his CV since at least 2009. I don’t know whether any new discoveries might have held things up or the publisher’s schedule is responsible, but it should be worth the wait.