"James E. Gunn - The Magicians" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gunn James E)

want to buy says more than what the members think they do. But I must admit that the ads puzzled me.
One ad was illustrated with all sorts of engraved five-pointed stars, crudely drawn stars, stars in
double circles with cryptic lettering, and some circles with no stars at all. The message said:
"PENTACLES OF GUARANTEED EFFICACY. Consecrated. Guaranteed. Satisfaction or your
money back. P.O. Box 2217..." Some of the pentacles were described as "pentacles to gain love,"
"pentacles to influence good spirits favorably," "the Great Pentacle," and "talismanic pentacles."
Another ad touted a book entitled One Hundred Spells for All Occasions. Revised, with
Mathematical and Verbal Equivalents Printed Side by Side for Easy Reference. "Every spell," it
said, "has been tested under laboratory conditions and has been proved effective." This ad not only
offered money back but consulting services "at cost."
Pentacles? Spells?
The Thaumaturgical Book Shop advertised a long list of books which could be purchased at
prices ranging upward from one hundred dollars. All were listed as manuscript copies. I let my eyes
travel down the columns of titles:

The Grand Grimoire
The Constitution of Pope Honorius
The Black Raven
D. Joh. Faust's Geister und Hollenzwang
Der Grosse und Gewaltige Hollenzwang
Le Dragon rouge, ou l'art de commander les esprits c├йlestes, a├йriens,
terrestres, infernaux

Farther down the list shifted into Latin:

Magia Naturalis et Innaturalis
Sigillum Solomonis
Schemhamphoras Solomonis Regis
De Officio Spirituum
Lemegeton

At the bottom, all by itself, was Clavicula Solomonis. "The true Key of Solomon. In his own
hand." That was priced at ten thousand dollars. At that it was dirt cheap. These people were in the wrong
business, whatever that business was. A manuscript copy of a book written by Solomon himself would
bring millions in the rare book market. I shook my head. These were obvious fakes, but they all took
themselves so seriously. Either it was all the most straight-faced put-on I had ever seen, or everybody in
the society was mad.
I skipped over the page of the day's program, saving that for later, and continued looking through
the ads. You never realize the fantastic things you can buy until you chance upon a specialized booklet
like this. I once stayed at a hotel that was having a convention of beer-can collectors, and I was told that
a rare, old can sold for one hundred fifty dollars. Empty.

magic wands (cut from virgin hazel with one blow of a new sword)
quill pens (from the third feather of the right wing of a male goose)
arthames (tempered in mole blood)
black hens and hares (for haruspicy and spells)
nails (from the coffin of an executed criminal)
bat's blood
tail of newt
candles made of human fat