raregrimoires

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The Peter Hammer Grimoires

Peter Hammer was the imprint of a supposed publishing house. Allegedly located in Cologne from the 17th century onward, contemporaries were well-aware that such a publishing house never actually existed. Instead, the imprint was a fiction under which publishers and printers — in the Netherlands, France and Germany — evaded the open identification with books they published. Only certain books attracted this imprint: political satire, pirated editions, sexually explicit titles, and occult tiles especially those dealing openly with with ceremonial magic.

There are four known Peter Hammer grimoires bearing the dates of 1743, 1734, 1725 and again 1725 although it is more likely they were printed in the mid 19th century by Johann Scheible. Scheible was an antiquarian in Stuttgart, Germany, who published editions of grimoires and wrote on magical traditions in Germany. He also operated out of New York under the name, Wm. Radde & Son. His later expanded editions of Das VI und VII Buch Mosis bear this imprint. Interesting enough, the below copy of this Hammer grimoire bears a stamp with Scheible’s New York address.

That being said, It’s fair assumption that Scheible reinvented himself under the name Peter Hammer to print a short run of titles. Perhaps he was unable to safely print under his own name after scrutiny for his initial grimores. All of them were in fact printed between 1846 and 1851 and the Peter Hammer Scheible imprints are said to date between 1853 and 1857. This would also explain Wm. Radde, his next evolution as a publisher.

J. Scheible, 1846-1851 —> Peter Hammer, 1853-1857 —> Wm. Radde, 1857-1867

Whether he invented them or merely reprinted the titles years following their initial publication can’t truly be known but the above would be a logical conclusion. What we do know is that they were a means to expand his catalog.

The Grimoires shown above:

Buch der wahren Praktik in der uralten göttlichen Magie by Abraham von Worm, Köln am Rhein : Peter Hammer, 1725

Sammlung Der Größten Geheimnisse Ausserordentlicher Menschen In Alter Zeit, Köln am Rhein : Peter Hammer, 1725

Others known works:

Handschriftliche Schätze aus Kloster Bibliotheken umfassend sämmtliche vierzig hauptwerke uber Magie, Köln am I Rhein: Peter Hammer, 1734

Nigromantisches Kunst-Buch, Köln am I Rhein: Peter Hammer, 1743

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Segulot, qemi'ot ve-goralot

Manuscript for writing Kabbalistic amulets —Yemen 18th/19th C

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Floor Circles

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Left: The Triangle that Salomon commanded the disobedient Spirits into.

Right: The Circlel of Salomon, that he made to preserve himselfe from the malice of those evill Spirits.

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Des A Pactes

Die Kunst den Geistern des Himmels, der Luft, der Erde und der Hölle zu…by J. Karter, ca. 1850

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First German edition of Le Dragon Rouge.

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Triangle des Pactes

Le dragon rouge, ou l'art de commander les esprits célestes, aériens, terrestres, infernaux, ... ca. 1800

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One of the earliest editons of this famous grimoire of black magic.

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The Circle for the Consecration of the Mystical Rings.

Once forged, The Rings are charged by conjuring a familiar spirit to endow the ring with powers while standing inside this protective floor circle.

From: Les Clavicules de Rabbi Solomon, (Manuscript, 1630 - left / Skinner, 2008 - right)

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Magia Nigromantica curiosa Alomonis Zadocki, 1545

From: Sammlung Der Größten Geheimnisse Ausserordentlicher Menschen In Alter Zeit, Köln am Rhein — Peter Hammer 1725

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Compendium Magiae innaturalis by Michael Scotus, 1511

From: Sammlung Der Größten Geheimnisse Ausserordentlicher Menschen In Alter Zeit, Köln am Rhein — Peter Hammer 1725

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Les Clavicules De Rabi Salomon Traduites Exactement du Texte hebreu en françois Par Mre Pierre Morissonneau —Bellegrade, 1630.

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This manuscript belongs to the Rabbi Solomon text-group and follows the same format as Welcome MS 4670. It has 17 chapters (199 pages) followed by an individually paginated section with 42 pages of rare secrets.

The existing French manuscripts of this grimoire are primary of the 18th century making this copy [from the early 17th century] the earliest known French manuscript of the Key of Solomon; penned at least 150 years earlier than MS 4670 mentioned above.

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St. Christopher Prayer

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By the turn of the 18th century, the St. Christopher Prayer was one of the most sought after grimoires. It consists of a long-winded prayer for compelling the spirits and demons that guard treasure. In southern-Germany during the mid-18th century, Protestant and Catholic theologians alike condemned its use. In 1773, the ring leader of group of treasure hunters was punished by having to kneel in the marketplace with his magical manuscripts. Amongst them was the Saint Christopher Prayer.

St. Corona Prayer

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Another patron saint of treasure seekers was St. Corona. The so-called, Corona Booklets contain a long incantation similar to that of the Christopher Prayer. This version is meant to show the magician the way to treasure where others ask for an exact sum of money be delivered to them.

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Das Buchlein der Venus (Tuba Veneris) by Johannes Dee

— Peter Hammer 1725 (Scheible 1857)

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One of Paracelsus’ more interesting magical medical devices was a trident designed as a cure for impotence and diseases of the genitals brought on by witchcraft. Paracelsus said that the trident should be made from an old horseshoe and engraved with various magical symbols. On the day of Venus and in the hour of Saturn, the magical therapeutic trident had to be concealed in the bed of a running brook. The victim would then be healed, and the infliction would bounce back and infect the witch or wizard who had performed the spell that had made the original victim ill. Eliphas Levi (1810-1875), widely regarded as an authority on ritual magic, had other interpretations of the famous Paracelsian trident. He suggested that it actually represented the Holy Trinity and the three major alchemical elements: salt, sulphur, and mercury.

-From World's Most Mysterious People by Lionel Fanthorpe & Patricia Fanthrope

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Archidoxes Magiques by Paracelsus, 1605

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First Latin Editon

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Dictionnaire Infernal by Collin de Plancy, Paris, Henry Plon, 1863

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Includes M.L. Breton’s illustrations of the 72 demons from Liber Malorum Spituum seu Goetia.

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Der Lange Verborgene Freund by Johann Georg Hohman, Bruckman - Reading 1820

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First edition of Hohman’s famous folk magic Grimore, The Long Lost Friend. This copy including the evidence of contemporary ink autograph blotted charms on various pages and end papers.

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Le Petit Albert, 1729

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Faust’s Hollenzwang, 1851