Customer Reviews

The Great Grimoire of Pope Honorius III

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Heh, heh. Just had to remark that it's come to my attention that the "reviewer" from Beverly Hills, CA is associated with "Sons of New Atlantis" aka "Brotherhood of the Northern Light" aka "International Guild of Occult Sciences", in other words the guys who photocopied Robert Turner's "Sworn Book of Honorius" mis-titled it as the "Grimoire of Honorius" and started selling copies they had made at a local copy-shop for crazy prices. The Trident edition is the real deal, anyone familiar with Trident's standards of quality and SONA's total lack of quality standards knows the truth. If you have any doubts, find someone with copies of both books & compare them for yourself (especially any of SONA's translated works with the original text included, their translation quality is high school level compared to Trident's professional translations) the choice is clear.

The Trident edition of the Grimoire of Honorius is the first and only English edition of the Grimoire of Honorius, and is further unique because it is a translation of the German edition that appeared in Johann Scheible's Das Kloster. The manuscript reprinted by Scheible was one of a kind, having been discovered by Scheible in the possesion of a German peasant. Prior to this, all known edition of the Grimoire of Honorius had been in French.

The single reader who posted three separate reviews stating the IGOS version is superior to the Trident edition is not kidding himself, because he knows full well it isn't true. The IGOS edition of the "Grimoire of Honorius" I purchased many years ago had been typed on a typewriter, photocopied on 8.5 x 11 paper, and Velobound with a wrap-around imitation leather cover. But the most disappointing fact, after spending $75, was to discover that it wasn't even the Grimoire of Honorius it purported to be. The literary pirates at IGOS had typed up the Heptangle edition of "The Sworn Book of Honorius" and were passing it off as the Grimoire of Honorius in order to capitalize on unmet demand.

The Trident edition is printed (not photocopied) on acid-free paper with hand-sewn signatures (not Velobound loose leafs) with a fine kidskin binding. The quality is unmatched and unsurpassed.

Some of the previous reviewers seem to be rather in error in some of their negative comments on this book. The reviewer who felt that the translation was poor because they decided that the translator had "little knowledge of ritual practices" is quite ridiculous. The requisite for translating a book from one language to another has more to do with knowledge of the language, time period and general subject matter than with specific ritual practices (unless that translator wishes to alter the original words of the text to make it mean something other than what the original author actually wrote). As for the "lots of bad info" comment, the information is simply that of the original text and is rendered quite well according to at least one German-speaking friend of mine. Another reviewer found it "hard to read & follow". This may have more to do with their own reading abilities, I suppose. I read the book and found it as easy to understand as any other book. This reviewer then compares it to the IGOS version by Blanchard and claims that the Trident version is not the "real text found elsewhere". This displays that reviewer's lack of knowledge on the subject. The IGOS "Grimoire of Honorius" is not what it's title says but, rather, it is the "Sworn Book of Honorius" which is another book entirely. The Trident version is the authentic "Grimoire of Honorius" and is a translation of a rarely seen German edition no less (the most common versions being the French editions). Overall, the physical quality (paper, type, binding) and the content quality (authentic texts, accurate translations) of all books that I have seen from Trident are above and beyond anything else previously or currently available (and I don't forsee anyone being able to improve on Trident's total quality level anytime in the future either). I have a better overview of the subject than some due to having begun a serious study of old European magical traditions in general and grimoires in particular more than twenty years ago. I don't consider myself an expert on the subject, but I am a well informed researcher. There are many excellent resources out there on the subjects of magic and grimoires but when it comes to the best quality editions of authentic texts (for bibliophiles, historians, or occultists) Trident is at the top of the list.

Wow! The best version of this rare occult book available. You might have to settle for the IGOS version, however, as Trident's is now hard to come by. IGOS books are readily available but are poor substitutes for Trident versions when they can be found. There is a reason Trident books have a high resale value.

The quality of work that is produced by Trident Books is by far the best. The text its self is clean and easy to read and understand, and the translation is better than that found in other sources. This book is both for the collector and user.

Well translated, beautifully bound, a delightful rendition of this tome. If your interests include medieval studies, this is a most compelling example of that period's grimoires.

I'm a collector of esoteric and occult texts, and happened across the Trident edition of this classic quite by accident. While this and other classic texts are indeed available in the public domain and over the internet, I enjoy having splendidly bound copies of those texts for my library, using much dog-eared paperbacks and net printouts for practical use. I'm not affiliated with any of the various feuding groups making diametrically opposing reviews, and have not seen the alternate IGOS (?) version, so will contain myself to the volume at hand. As one can obtain this information from the internet, as well as other later, derivative books (the Lemegeton, Clavicula Salomonis and Agrippa's Three/Fourth Book(s) of Occult Philosophy, being major examples of works which rely on or reprint the material within), one might question why one would spend $125 on such a work. It's genuinely a very impressive library edition, though a wee bit pricey for the mere 130 pages. The text within is attractively printed in typeset lettering, not photocopies as indicated in some other reviews, though it is 10-11 pt, and can be a strain on the eyes for extended periods of reading. It's also attractively bound in black leather, with gold stamp on the frontispiece and spine, and has marbleized edging.

As is well known, this text is extremely important in occult science, as it is purportedly the work of Honorius III, the reluctant Pope, who commissioned the work and through it essentially instructed all priests of the day to learn to combat demons and other entities by first learning to summon and control them, giving rise to the Catholic occultism of the 13th century. In short, magic(k) became the province of either those sorcerers who were the enemy of God, or the Church and its priests, who were His servants. The results of this "ecclesiastic occultism" can be seen in the Catholic grimoires, including the Heptameron of Peter de Abano, the later works of Agrippa, and even the mysterious Lemegeton and Clavicula of alleged (but erroneous) ancient Hebrew origin, and set the stage for the Rosicrucian movement centuries later that grew into the Golden Dawn.

this version is a fake and a bad copy DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT BUY THIS LOW LIFE TRASH.I order'd mine strait from trident and it took forever to get and getting a hold of the person in charge was interesting as they did not want to answer the phone.I had to get paypal involved in the dispute to even get the product.It is a small hard bound black book with an upside down cross on the front how stupid is that.Inside the author claimed it to be authentic when you read it its put together very crappy.I would not trust this volume at all let alone put it into the library.I have inside info that there is a better translation coming by weiser antiquarian books soon but no date as to when it will arrive.They know of the ill gotten texts and bad translations done by authors who just wish to mock work like this by putting out garbage like this to just make money on nooby practicing magicians.I would rather read forbidden rites by Richard Kieckhefer its an awesome work
and I have the copy of clm 849 that the author wrote about.This in itself is a valuable work.The reason why is put this book side by side with the heptameron by peter de abano.I believe this work draws off an earlier work that abano got his works off of because this tends to be more accurate.So anyone seeking REAL TEXTS to work with get this book and compare to heptameron trust me you wont be disappointed.

This is a poorly translated text. Probably by a teacher with little knowledge of real ritual practices. Meaning, it would be dangerous to use. There are far better versions of this text
translated by true occultists. Lots of bad information.

More hard to read junk by a bookbinding house. Get a real edition by a practicing occultists. Not bookbinders. Very small size and hard to read. They also think they own the rights to ancient texts. They steal it from a library and think they own it! IT IS PUBLIC DOMAIN, like all ancient texts. IGOS has a much better version. Slander fits this company.