Touch Me Not, a surreal 18th century manual on how to raise the Devil, and then send him treasure hunting

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/05/14/touch-me-not-a-surreal-18th-c.html

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DON’T READ LATIN TO THE BOOKS…

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What if i’m Latino?

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And that perfect gift I’m always looking for is found.

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I had no idea I was performing magic!

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Feel free to send me a copy too

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There has always been a strange obsession with magical treasure hunting in the European grimoire tradition which I have never clearly understood.

As a kid, I read a lot of ghost stories from both sides of the pond. While all ghosts drifted and pointed, the American ghosts of my homeland tended to point to where their body was murdered and buried. British ghosts, bizarrely to me, always pointed to where their treasure was buried. It wasn’t until years later in college where I learned about the wars and archaeological finds that I finally understood the reason.

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Neither did I! Back when I was but a youth, and I got bored with being the Designated Driver and started drawing ‘murals’ on the impaired party guests, I thought I was just being ‘the asshole who draws cartoons on people when they pass out’. It was a spell for finding a treasure trove of entertainment…

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22 bucks for shipping?! You kidding me?! Usurious!!

I ordered a copy.

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Where did you think those zebra-striped, top-hatted baby elephants that appeared in your living room come from?

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One of the other amazing things about this Fulgur edition is that it’s extremely affordable, at $46.50.

Egad! I’ve discovered how to use magic to become rich!

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You think $46.50 for a high-quality, hardbound art book is a lot?

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I’m a beer and paperback kinda guy. Sue me.

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I’d always assumed that it was the drugs, and that they weren’t real.

Man, if I’d only known that they were real, yet temporary magical beings… I’d have sent them after some treasure!

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This puts me in mind of James Blish’s excellent duology variously called Black Easter and The Devil’s Day. It’s a meditation on prophecy, magic, God, Satan, and more. It and the other two thirds of the triptych, Doctor Mirabilis and Case of Conscience are absolutely worth reading.

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You can download a scan of the original book as a PDF here: https://www.holybooks.com/compendium-rarissimum/

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