Entry #14

• Laskow, Sarah.  (2016)  "Protect Your Library the Medieval Way, With Horrifying Book Curses."  AtlasObscura.com.
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2lox3xn

When I saw this article posted by Atlas Obscura's Facebook page, I knew I had to read it.  And it put me in mind of the ancient Assyrians, who would also etch warnings into their tablets to prevent theft (see the 600s BCE), so then I knew I had to add this to my History Log.

This article is basically a quick summary of a book published in 1983, titled Anathema! Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses.  Its author, Marc Drogin, came across his first 'book curse' while researching medieval calligraphy.  At first it was just a curiosity, but as Drogin found more examples, he realized it was a sign of just how valuable books had been.  As mentioned in this article and as we've read in class, it was a laborious process to make a book--copying it out, perhaps illuminating it, binding it, creating a cover.  Let's not forget to add in travel time and all the dangers of the road if someone was making a copy outside their home monastery or library.  I liked the end of the article, which discusses repeats.  Not every monk was clever enough to come up with their own unique thief deterrant--Drogin marked this as one of the most common: "May whoever steals or alienates this book, or mutilates it, be cut off from the body of the church and held as a thing accursed."

I personally liked the effort that clearly went into this one:

"For him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not, this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in 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 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."