Marc Drogin (1936–2017)

I first came across a book curse in, of all things, a kid's book. I was reading Inkheart, which opens each chapter with a quote from various literary works, and this rather memorable curse:

"For him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not, this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent into his hand & rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, & all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy, & let there be no surcease to his agony till he sing in show more dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, & when at least he goeth to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him for ever."

I've been curious about the origin of that ever since. Then a few weeks ago at work, I came across a bookish link that took me to an Atlas Obscura article on book curses. Reading through with interest, I saw that they quoted Marc Drogin and reference this book. The delightful part of this book is that it not only includes a wide variety of curses, the reference works Drogin found them in, and the original abbey (generally) in which they were found, it puts the idea of curses in their historical context.

As odd as it sounds to us now, in a time when books were so precious an extensive library could be anywhere from two to two dozen volumes, stealing them or destroying them was a terrible thought. Books were precious commodities, and before Drogin even begins to talk about the curses, he gives us some background about their creation and value in medieval Europe. And then, of course, he does include a variety of curses that, in our day and age, have become a mere curiosity, while books proliferate by the thousands.

Oh, and the curse that originally interested me? According to Drogin, it was from the Monastery of San Pedro in Barcelona, and referenced in A Small Book of Book Curses by Judith Anne Duncan. I may have to read that one too. show less

The making of a book in the medieval monastery was a lengthy and laborious process. Books were few and precious, and often lived chained to the library's shelf. Thus, it is no surprise that curses were called down upon those who would steal or damage a book.

Drogin has collected many of these book curses, as well as describing the history and importance of the medieval book.

For him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not, this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his show more hand & rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, & all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy, & let there be no surcease to his agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, & when at last he goeth to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him for ever.

You have been warned! show less

Short book with an interesting historical perspective. Way back when books were copied by hand and costly to produce, the scribes, most often monks or nuns often laid an anathema;that is, a curse on any who damaged, stole or refused to return a book. Using God and the threat of excommunication as a way of preventing such crimes against books from occurring, gave the scribe a little extra power to hopefully prevent their hard labor from being destroyed.

wrote procure joys life supernal;
May show more he who this book the of
steals endure pangs death infernal. show less

This book has been my bible in terms of medieval calligraphy. Not only does it give a great history of medieval calligraphy but it breaks down the hands beautifully. Very practical for anyone who wants to learn about and do medieval calligraphy. *Highly* recommended.