Magic and the Occult – Agrippa: De Occulta Philosophia

Written by Louise Cowan, Trainee Liaison Librarian

Happy Halloween!  To celebrate the spookiest day of the year here is a special find from our collections:

RESERVE--189.5-AGR

De Occulta Philosophia, Reserve -189.5-AGR

The ‘De Occulta Philosophia Libri III’ or ‘The Three Books of Occult Philosophy’ was written by Henrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (Agrippa), a German writer, famous for his works on magic and the occult.   According to Copenhaver (2008), “Agrippa recognised that magic was an art, a practical technique, but he also insisted on a theoretical content in magic, an analytic basis in the study of nature.”

‘De Occulta Philosophia’ explores a range of magical concepts including magic, astrology, demonology, divination, witchcraft and numerology.

Astrological Charts

Astrological Charts

Symbols showing the characteristics of evil spirits.

The characteristics of evil spirits.

Although Agrippa eventually wrote a retraction to his work, it remains an important resource for those studying magic and Renaissance philosophy today.  Agrippa even features in J.K.Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ Series as a collectable chocolate frog card!

 

References:

Copenhaver, B.P. (2008) ‘Natural Philosophy: Astrology and Magic’,in Schmitt, C.B., Skinner, Q., Kessler, E. and Kraye, J. (eds) The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy. [online]Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,pp 264-266.

Nauert, C.G. (2015) ‘Agrippa von Nettesheim’. Oxford Bibliographies. [Online]Oxford: Oxford University Press

Keats: A thing of beauty is a joy forever

Written by Louise Cowan, Trainee Liaison Librarian

This weekend sees the 220th birthday of English Romantic poet John Keats.

The title of this post, perhaps made famous more recently by Mary Poppins, is taken from Keats’ work ‘Endymion’.  The poem is based on the Greek myth in which the eponymous young shepherd attracts the attentions of moon goddess Selene.  Although ‘Endymion’ was one of Keats’ more infamously criticized poems, it can also be considered a landmark in his career.  Keats himself described Endymion as, “a test, a trail of my Powers of Imagination and chiefly of my invention which is a rare thing indeed…”  (Gittings, 1971, p209)

The UMASCS library holds a rather lovely (and large!) edition of the poem from 1873 containing detailed engravings on steel by F. Joubert from paintings by E.J. Poynter:

Engraving from Keats' Endymion

Engraving from Keats’ Endymion

 

Another beautifully illustrated edition of Keats’ work is this 1903 text, part of the Red Letter Library series, published by The Gresham Publishing Company.  It features delicate Art Nouveau illustrations by Talwin Morris:

Photo 28-10-2015, 16 15 58

Art Nouveau illustrations

The book is stored in our Printing Collection as an example of the ‘Glasgow Style’ which flourished at the end of the nineteenth century.  For more information about Talwin Morris visit our exhibition page here.

To find out more about Keats, Gittings’ biography is available in the UMASCS open access book reference collections at call number: Mark Longmann Library 821.78 KEA/GIT

Sources: Gittings, R. (1971) John Keats.  Harmondsworth: Pelican Books

Behind the scenes: getting to know readers old and new

Hello, my name is Erika Delbecque and like Louise, I am new to UMASCS. I am, however, not new to the University of Reading; I worked here as a Trainee Liaison Librarian a few years ago. I have now returned to Reading as one of the two part-time UMASCS Librarians. In this role, I will be looking after the Special Collections and the MERL library.

These collections are incredibly varied and broad in scope, and I am really excited to be working with them. I have already come across a few fascinating items. For example, I encountered the following volume when I assisted at a class for third-year English students on Editing the Renaissance:

The title page of the 1640 edition of the works of Ben Jonson, with a portrait of the author on the opposite page

The title page of the 1640 edition of the works of Ben Jonson, with a portrait of the author on the opposite page

This is an edition of the works of the playwright Ben Jonson, printed by Richard Bishop in 1640. One early reader of this book has crossed out several words throughout the text. For example, this picture shows a fragment from Cynthia’s Revells, a satire first performed in 1600:

RF 822.34 VOL. 1 - Jonson

The words that are crossed out are faith, ‘fore heaven, and a pox on’t. In this way, this reader, who appears to have objected to swearing and mentioning religion in secular plays, has consistently removed all oaths and references to faith from the text in this play and several others in this volume. Although this reader did not actually write anything in this book, we can deduce a lot about him or her and the period he or she lived in by the blotches of ink that are scattered throughout the book.

Traces of previous readers like this one remind us of a book’s journey before it reached its place on the shelves at UMASCS. Starting at the printer’s office in 1640, this book travelled through the ages on a journey from owner to owner, before it was presented to the University of Reading by Professor D. J. Gordon in 1960. In this way, the traces that previous readers left behind can provide fascinating glimpses into the history of a book. They are one of the things that make being a Special Collections Librarian so exciting.

Behind the Scenes: A Tour of Treasures!

Hello! My name is Louise Cowan and I’m a new member of staff here at UMASCS.  Although my official role is ‘Trainee Liaison Librarian’ and I will mostly be based at the University Library at Whiteknights Campus, I am excited to be spending one day a week working with the Special Collections team to support and contribute to their fantastic social media channels!

Today was my first official day and as part of my induction I was treated to a behind the scenes tour by UMASCS Librarian, Fiona Melhuish.

The special collections store at UMASCS

The special collections store at UMASCS

The large store rooms are amazing treasure troves of rare books full of beautiful illustrations, archives of documents with fascinating stories, and unique ephemeral collections.

As an MA graduate in Children’s Literature one of my favourites from today’s tour was the popular Children’s Collection; in particular, this beautiful copy of ‘Peter and Wendy’, illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell:

Peter and Wendy by J.M.Barrie

Peter and Wendy by J.M.Barrie

 

I also love the John Lewis Printing Collection which consists of roughly 20,000 items illustrating the history of printing from the fifteenth century to the present. This little Christmas card is a treat:

Philosopher dogs, Group XI : 3 Juvenile : c1850-

Group XI : 3 Juvenile : c1850-

And as it is officially #MusGif Day  I couldn’t resist making a Gif from this charming trio of cats:

Christmas Cats, Group XI : 3 Juvenile : c1850-

Group XI : 3 Juvenile : c1850-

I’m really looking forward to delving in, learning more and sharing the collections with you.   Make sure you follow us on Twitter: @UniRdg_SpecColl and Instagram: @unirdg_collections to keep up-to-date!