Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Medicine, Magic
and Art in Early
Modern Norway
Conceptualizing
Knowledge
Ane Ohrvik
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic
Series Editors
Jonathan Barry
Department of History
University of Exeter
Exeter, UK
Willem de Blécourt
Meertens Institute
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Owen Davies
School of Humanities
University of Hertfordshire
UK
The history of European witchcraft and magic continues to fascinate and
challenge students and scholars. There is certainly no shortage of books
on the subject. Several general surveys of the witch trials and numerous
regional and micro studies have been published for an English-speaking
readership. While the quality of publications on witchcraft has been high,
some regions and topics have received less attention over the years. The
aim of this series is to help illuminate these lesser known or little studied
aspects of the history of witchcraft and magic. It will also encourage the
development of a broader corpus of work in other related areas of magic
and the supernatural, such as angels, devils, spirits, ghosts, folk healing
and divination. To help further our understanding and interest in this
wider history of beliefs and practices, the series will include research that
looks beyond the usual focus on Western Europe and that also explores
their relevance and influence from the medieval to the modern period.
‘A valuable series.’ - Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft
Several people have contributed to the realisation of this book and I feel
indebted to them all. My most important readers and discussion partners,
Anne Eriksen and Stephen Mitchell, stand out, as they guided me through
my time as a PhD student at the University of Oslo and as a visiting fellow
at Harvard University. I am very grateful for their careful reading of my
texts, observant comments and constructive criticism as well as genuine
interest in my project, which served as invaluable motivation for me dur-
ing the PhD project. Towards the end of the PhD period, Timothy
Tangherlini and Nils Gilje offered valuable input to my study, which was
appreciated and which I have taken with me and made use of in my further
work on Norwegian and European manuscripts. My most important
reader in the finishing phase of this book was Dirk Johannsen. I would like
to thank Dirk for reading and commenting on texts at short notice and for
providing encouragement along the way.
Archivists at the Danish Archive of Folklore (Dansk Folkemindesamling)
in Copenhagen, the Wellcome Library in London, the National Library in
Oslo and the Norwegian Folklore Archives (Norsk Folkeminnesamling) at
the University of Oslo have offered valuable help in accessing the physical
material as well as providing digital copies. Additionally, staff members at
museums and archives all over Norway who hold Black Books in their col-
lections have during the span of this project offered their expertise and
help in making Black Books available to me. I thank them all for their help.
Among the many scholars whose work I have been inspired by, some
have been especially important for this study. William Eamon’s study of
the secreti books in Italy directed my attention to the role know-how
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1 Finding Knowledge 1
Manuscripts, Books and Black Books 4
Black Books and Magic 5
Black Books and Book History 8
A History of Knowledge 10
Paratextual Readings 13
Selection and Presentation of Material 18
Bibliography 26
2 Knowledge Cultures 31
Medicine, Magic, and Art on the European Book Market 32
Printing and Censorship in Denmark-Norway 37
A Manuscript Culture 44
Cultures of Knowledge 54
Bibliography 61
3 Making Knowledge 67
Format 68
Binding 74
Writing Styles 76
Material Conceptions 85
Making Books 88
Bibliography 95
ix
x Contents
4 Attributing Knowledge 99
Authorship in Norwegian Black Books 100
Scripters and Compilers 101
Mediators 104
Cyprian 112
Cyprian in Scandinavia and Europe 116
Attributing Authorship, Authorising Knowledge 120
Bibliography 134
5 Identifying Knowledge 141
Art as Theoretical and Practical Knowledge 143
Liberated Secrets 149
Cyprian and the Sciences 159
Generic Concepts in the Black Books 163
Secrets Disclosed 165
Bibliography 173
6 Situating Knowledge 177
Placing Knowledge 179
Storing Knowledge 184
Dating Knowledge 187
Owners of Knowledge 189
A Biography of Knowledge 192
Bibliography 198
7 Instructing Knowledge 201
‘Science Lovers’ as Intended Readers—Explaining Who 202
‘To Help Your Neighbour and Yourself’—Explaining How 207
‘For Benefit and Rarity, and as a Sanctuary’—Explaining Why 213
The Reader 214
Bibliography 224
8 Organising Knowledge 227
Tables of Contents 228
Headings 239
Paragraph Headings 242
Contents
xi
Practical Knowledge 244
Bibliography 251
9 Conceptualising Knowledge 253
Forms of Knowledge in the Black Books 254
Promoters of Knowledge 257
Origins of Knowledge 258
Materialities of Knowledge 260
Manifestations of Knowledge 261
Bibliography 262
Archive Sources 263
Bibliography 265
Index 287
List of Figures
Fig. 1.1 The title page of the confiscated book from Telemark.
The book is in octavo format and contains sixty-eight
pages of recipes, formulas, charms and advice ranging
from how to cure toothache and snake bites, how to
silence your enemy in court, how to be freed of all evil,
how to get people to like you and how to be invisible to
animals and birds. Judging by the handwriting, the
book was probably written around 1800, and the owner
from whom the book was confiscated may very well also
have been the initial writer of the book. As is evident
from the picture, the writer’s literacy skills were limited.
NB MS 8640e, National Library of Norway, Oslo 2
Fig. 2.1 Opera nova chiamata Secrieti secretorum: in laquale
poterai conseguire molti piaceri et utilitada: con molte
cose rediculose stampata novamente, printed in 1520.
The promise of pleasures and benefits were common
market strategies for reference books like this one.
Wellcome Library, London 33
Fig. 2.2 The title page of En liden dog konsterig Bog Om
adskillige slags Farffve oc Bleck (A small but rich book
on art about numerous colours and inks) printed in
1648. As is evident from the title page, the book is
attributed to the famous Italian Secreti book writer
Alessio Piemontese. Photo by author 36
Fig. 2.3 The title page of the first known printed Black Book in
Denmark-Norway, which was a small and simple book
in octavo consisting of thirty-two pages. While the title
xiii
xiv LIST OF FIGURES
xvii
CHAPTER 1
Finding Knowledge
Fig. 1.1 The title page of the confiscated book from Telemark. The book is in
octavo format and contains sixty-eight pages of recipes, formulas, charms and
advice ranging from how to cure toothache and snake bites, how to silence your
enemy in court, how to be freed of all evil, how to get people to like you and how
to be invisible to animals and birds. Judging by the handwriting, the book was
probably written around 1800, and the owner from whom the book was confis-
cated may very well also have been the initial writer of the book. As is evident from
the picture, the writer’s literacy skills were limited. NB MS 8640e, National
Library of Norway, Oslo
FINDING KNOWLEDGE 3
ing and function in the books. One concrete expression of this situating
process is their material and literary form as books, which places the Black
Books in the history of books. It is my firm conviction that the literary rela-
tionship is crucial to understanding why Norwegian Black Books appear as
they do, their authorisation strategies and how knowledge is presented.
Olin tuskin saanut oven jälkeeni kiinni, kun näin hienon naisen
lakeijan saattamana nousevan portaita ylös. »Herra Jumala, tuo on
tietysti rouva Abaza», ajattelin minä. Sydäntäni alkoi jyskyttää
ajatellessani kuvaelmaa, joka syntyisi, kun Idan ylhäinen suosija
astuisi huoneeseemme.
*****
»Jos niin on, niin hän pahasti erehtyy. Meillä on kyllä suvussamme
rikkaita, mutta meillä itsellämme ei ole omaisuuksia.»
*****
Heidän ainoa poikansa Alexander oli syntynyt 1864. Hän oli siis
vereltään puoleksi juutalainen, mutta ei yleensä tahtonut sietää siitä
puhuttavan, vaan väitti tuntevansa itsensä koko sielunelämältään
puhtaaksi germaaniksi. Hän oli saanut hienon kasvatuksen.
Saksassa, germaanien päämaassa, sanotaan jokaisen lahjakkaan
nuorukaisen tuntevan kutsumuksekseen joko tulla runoilijaksi tai
filosofiksi. Alexander Uexküll-Gyllenband lienee nuoruutensa päivinä
tuntenut kutsumusta kumpaankin: »Arthur ja Irene»-tarina viittaa
runouteen, mutta hänen häämatkallaan 1894 pitämänsä päiväkirja
todistaa, että hän siihen aikaan tunsi lähimmäksi
elämäntehtäväkseen filosofian, eli tarkemmin sanottuna: eetillisen
filosofian harrastamisen.
*****
»Matka 1894» on kirjoitettu nimilehdelle suurehkoon sinikantiseen
vihkoon, johon noin kolmenkymmenen vuoden ikäinen vapaaherra
Alexander Uexküll-Gyllenband on merkinnyt ajatelmiaan ja
kokemuksiaan häämatkaltaan, jolle lähti Ida Aalbergin kanssa vasten
vanhempiensa tahtoa. Muistiinpanot ovat osaksi salamerkeillä
kirjoitettuja, salamerkeillä, joiden avain kuitenkin on vihon kannessa,
mutta muutenkin on hänen käsialansa niin vaikeasti luettavaa, että
hetkellinen uteliaisuus löytää kovin vähän tyydytystä sivujen
selailemisesta. Niin tilapäisiä kuin nuo muistiinpanot ovatkin, ne
kuitenkin puhuvat mitä rehellisintä kieltä tuon matkan vaiheista.
Se on naistaktiikkaa.
Heikkoa, valheellista ja sairaalloista naistaktiikkaa.
Jos sen tiedät ja jos siihen uskot: miten pientä onkaan silloin
semmoista taustaa vastaan olla herkkätunteinen!
Sinä tiedät, etten tule ennen lepäämään, enkä saakaan sitä tehdä,
ennenkuin ne ovat jäljettömiin kadonneet.
*****
Pelkää sitä.
Ole vapaa.» ‒ ‒
»Joko:
tai:
»Rakkaani.
Tahdotko odottaa?
Vaimoni!