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114-421: A grimoire ( / ɡ r ɪ m ˈ w ɑːr / ) (also known as a book of spells , magic book , or a spellbook ) is a textbook of magic , typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets , how to perform magical spells , charms, and divination , and how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels , spirits , deities , and demons . In many cases,

228-530: A Book of Simon the Magician , based upon the New Testament figure of Simon Magus . Similarly, it was commonly believed by medieval people that other ancient figures, such as the poet Virgil , astronomer Ptolemy , and philosopher Aristotle , had been involved in magic, and grimoires claiming to have been written by them were circulated. However, there were those who did not believe this; for instance,

342-461: A Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. CK-12 FlexBooks are free to use online and offer formats suitable for use on portable personal reading devices and computers – both online and offline. Formats for both iPad and Kindle are offered. School districts may select a title as is or customize the open textbook to meet local instructional standards. The file may be then accessed electronically or printed using any print on demand service without paying

456-766: A ritual circle , with the mystical purpose of having visions of God, Hell , and Purgatory and gaining much wisdom and knowledge as a result. Another was the Hebrew Sefer Raziel Ha-Malakh , translated in Europe as the Liber Razielis Archangeli . A later book also claiming to have been written by Solomon was originally written in Greek during the 15th century, where it was known as the Magical Treatise of Solomon or

570-489: A Jew called Eleazar used it to cure cases of possession . The book may have been the Testament of Solomon but was more probably a different work. The pseudepigraphic Testament of Solomon is one of the oldest magical texts. It is a Greek manuscript attributed to Solomon and was likely written in either Babylonia or Egypt sometime in the first five centuries AD; over 1,000 years after Solomon's death. The work tells of

684-672: A Latin translation from the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament . Gutenberg's invention made mass production of texts possible for the first time. Although the Gutenberg Bible itself was expensive, printed books began to spread widely over European trade routes during the next 50 years, and by the 16th century, printed books had become more widely accessible and less costly. While many textbooks were already in use, compulsory education and

798-586: A degree program and tuition and fees are lower, the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student was $ 886 in academic year 2003–2004, representing almost three-quarters of the cost of tuition and fees. According to the 2nd edition of a study by the United States Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) published in February 2005 : "Textbook prices are increasing at more than four times

912-455: A faculty order for the book at the end of the term and the edition is still current, they may offer students the wholesale price of the book, which could range from 5 to 35 percent of the new retail price, according to the GAO report. When students resell their textbooks during campus "buyback" periods, these textbooks are often sold into the national used textbook distribution chain. If a textbook

1026-696: A figure of a similar name in Iranian tradition ." In the Encyclopædia Iranica entry for Ostanes, Morton Smith cites Justi's Namensbuch for instances of the name which refer to real persons. Smith: "Which [of these references to] Ostanes (...), if any, gave rise to the legend of the magus is uncertain." Smith goes on to reconstruct the Old Iranian name as * (H)uštāna. The Justi entries that Smith alludes to are: Diodorus 17.5.5 and Plutarch Artax. 1.1.5 (cit. Ktesias ) for Ὀστάνης as

1140-408: A kiosk and ordering books online with a third party facilitator or renting directly from the store's inventory. Some stores use a hybrid of both methods, opting for in-store selections of the most popular books and the online option for more obscure titles or books they consider too risky to put in the rental system. Rented items can be used for a set duration of time, then are required to be returned to

1254-467: A large scale by ordering textbooks for entire courses at lower prices from international distribution channels. While the 1998 Supreme Court decision Quality King v. L'anza protects the reimportation of copyrighted materials under the first-sale doctrine , textbook publishers have still attempted to prevent the U.S. sale of international editions by enforcing contracts which forbid foreign wholesalers from selling to American distributors. Concerned about

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1368-617: A line of practice between religious devotion and magic." The use of such books on magic continued. In Christianised Europe, the Church divided books of magic into two kinds: those that dealt with " natural magic " and those that dealt in "demonic magic". The former was acceptable because it was viewed as merely taking note of the powers in nature that were created by God; for instance, the Anglo-Saxon leechbooks, which contained simple spells for medicinal purposes, were tolerated. Demonic magic

1482-417: A loophole through this definition in state bills. Given that the problem of high textbook prices is linked to the "broken" economics of the market, requiring publishers to disclose textbook prices to faculty is a solution pursued by a number of legislatures. By inserting price into sales interactions, this regulation will supposedly make the economic forces operate more normally. No data suggests that this

1596-524: A loss of sales for U.S. retailers. Additionally, the availability of lower-priced textbooks through these channels has heightened distrust and frustration among students regarding textbook prices, and college stores find it difficult to explain why their textbook prices are higher, according to the National Association of College Stores. Retailers and publishers have also been concerned that some U.S. retailers may have engaged in reimportation on

1710-461: A magician too. The 1st century CE Pliny the Elder names "Zoroaster" as the inventor of magic ( Natural History XXX .2.3), but a "principle of the division of labor appears to have spared Zoroaster most of the responsibility for introducing the dark arts to the Greek and Roman worlds. That dubious honor went to another fabulous magus, Ostanes, to whom most of the pseudepigraphic magical literature

1824-474: A new edition costs 12% more than a new copy of the previous edition (not surprising if the old version is obsolete), and 58% more than a used copy of the previous edition. Textbook publishers maintain these new editions are driven by demand from teachers. That study found that 76% of teachers said new editions were justified "half of the time or less" and 40% said they were justified "rarely" or "never". The PIRG study has been criticized by publishers, who argue that

1938-629: A number of textbooks already exist, and are being used at schools such as MIT and Harvard. A 2010 study published found that open textbooks offer a viable and attractive means to meet faculty and student needs while offering savings of approximately 80% compared to traditional textbook options. Although the largest question seems to be who is going to pay to write them, several state policies suggest that public investment in open textbooks might make sense. To offer another perspective , any jurisdiction might find itself challenged to find sufficient numbers of credible academics who would be willing to undertake

2052-399: A price quote or offer. These online book buyers often offer "free shipping" (which in actuality is built into the offer for the book), and allow students to sell multiple books to the same source. Because online book buyers are buying books for resale, the prices they offer may be lower than students can get on online marketplaces. However, their prices are competitive, and they tend to focus on

2166-624: A relatively high literacy rate—proved an exception to this, with a third of the 134 witch trials held involving people who had owned grimoires. By the end of the Early Modern period, and the beginning of the Enlightenment , many European governments brought in laws prohibiting many superstitious beliefs in an attempt to bring an end to the Witch Hunts; this would invariably affect the release of grimoires. Meanwhile, Hermeticism and

2280-628: A royalty, saving 80% or more when compared to traditional textbook options. An example print on demand open textbook title, "College Algebra" by Stitz & Zeager through Lulu is 608 pages, royalty free, and costs about $ 20 ordered one at a time (March 2011). (Any print on demand service could be used – this is just an example. School districts could easily negotiate even lower prices for bulk purchases to be printed in their own communities.) Teacher's editions are available for educators and parents. Titles have been authored by various individuals and organizations and are vetted for quality prior to inclusion in

2394-411: A selection of books that have been approved by the state Department of Education. Teachers receive the books to give to the students for each subject. Teachers are usually not required to use textbooks, however, and many prefer to use other materials instead. Osthanes Unlike "Zoroaster" and "Hystaspes", which have well attested Iranian language counterparts, for "Ostanes" there is "no evidence of

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2508-442: A small commission only after the sale is completed. According to textbook author Henry L. Roediger (and Wadsworth Publishing Company senior editor Vicki Knight), the used textbook market is illegitimate, and entirely to blame for the rising costs of textbooks. As methods of "dealing with this problem", he recommends making previous editions of textbooks obsolete, binding the textbook with other materials, and passing laws to prevent

2622-781: A spell book or tome of magical knowledge in fantasy fiction and role-playing games . The most famous fictional grimoire is the Necronomicon , a creation of H. P. Lovecraft . Textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbooks and other books used in schools. Today, many textbooks are published in both print and digital formats. The history of textbooks dates back to ancient civilizations. For example, Ancient Greeks wrote educational texts. The modern textbook has its roots in

2736-427: A student receives. If a professor chooses to use the same book the following semester, even if it is a custom text, designed specifically for an individual instructor, bookstores often buy the book back. The GAO report found that, generally, if a book is in good condition and will be used on the campus again the next term, bookstores will pay students 50 percent of the original price paid. If the bookstore has not received

2850-468: A textbook. Supplemental items range from CD-ROMs and workbooks to online passcodes and bonus material. Students often cannot buy these things separately, and often the one-time-use supplements destroy the resale value of the textbook. According to the Student PIRGs, the typical bundled textbook costs 10%–50% more than an unbundled textbook, and 65% of professors said they "rarely" or "never" use

2964-553: Is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . The market for textbooks does not reflect classic supply and demand because of agency problems . Some students save money by buying used copies of textbooks, which tend to be less expensive, and are available from many college bookstores in the US, who buy them back from students at the end of a term. Books that are not being re-used at the school are often purchased by an off-campus wholesaler for 0–30% of

3078-473: Is in fact true. However, The Student PIRGs have found that publishers actively withhold pricing information from faculty, making it difficult to obtain. Their most recent study found that 77% of faculty say publisher sales representatives do not volunteer prices, and only 40% got an answer when they directly asked. Furthermore, the study found that 23% of faculty rated publisher websites as "informative and easy to use" and less than half said they typically listed

3192-645: Is information on astrology and the angels . In possible connection with the Book of Enoch , the idea of Enoch and his great-grandson Noah having some involvement with books of magic given to them by angels continued through to the medieval period. "Many of those [in Ephesus ] who believed [in Christianity] now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practised sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated

3306-412: Is not going to be used on campus for the next semester of courses then many times the college bookstore will sell that book to a national used book company. The used book company then resells the book to another college bookstore. Finally, that book is sold as used to a student at another college at a price that is typically 75% of the new book price. At each step, a markup is applied to the book to enable

3420-409: Is originally European—and many Europeans throughout history, particularly ceremonial magicians and cunning folk , have used grimoires—the historian Owen Davies has noted that similar books can be found all around the world, ranging from Jamaica to Sumatra . He also noted that in this sense, the world's first grimoires were created in Europe and the ancient Near East . The etymology of grimoire

3534-653: Is unclear. It is most commonly believed that the term grimoire originated from the Old French word grammaire 'grammar', which had initially been used to refer to all books written in Latin . By the 18th century, the term had gained its now common usage in France and had begun to be used to refer purely to books of magic. Owen Davies presumed this was because "many of them continued to circulate in Latin manuscripts". However,

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3648-634: The Black Pullet and the Grimoirium Verum . The Black Pullet , probably authored in late-18th-century Rome or France, differs from the typical grimoires in that it does not claim to be a manuscript from antiquity, but told by a man who was a member of Napoleon 's armed expeditionary forces in Egypt. The widespread availability of printed grimoires in France—despite the opposition of both

3762-668: The Petit Albert (1782), the Grimoire du Pape Honorius , and the Enchiridion Leonis Papae . The Petit Albert contained a wide variety of magic; for instance, dealing in simple charms for ailments, along with more complex things, such as the instructions for making a Hand of Glory . In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, following the French Revolution of 1789, a hugely influential grimoire

3876-629: The Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , which listed 69 demons. To counter this, the Roman Catholic Church authorised the production of many works of exorcism, the rituals of which were often very similar to those of demonic conjuration. Alongside these demonological works, grimoires on natural magic continued to be produced, including Magia Naturalis , written by Giambattista Della Porta (1535–1615). Iceland held magical traditions in regional work as well, most remarkably

3990-542: The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses ; two influential magical texts that claimed to have been written by the ancient Jewish figure Moses. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses were among the works which later spread to the countries of Scandinavia , where—in Danish and Swedish —grimoires were known as black books and were commonly found among members of the army. In Britain, new grimoires continued to be produced throughout

4104-607: The British and French empires. Throughout this period, the Inquisition , a Roman Catholic organisation, had organised the mass suppression of peoples and beliefs that they considered heretical . In many cases, grimoires were found in the heretics' possessions and destroyed. In 1599, the church published the Indexes of Prohibited Books , in which many grimoires were listed as forbidden, including several mediaeval ones, such as

4218-576: The Coptic writing system evolved, and the Library of Alexandria was opened. This likely had an influence upon books of magic, with the trend on known incantations switching from simple health and protection charms to more specific things, such as financial success and sexual fulfillment. Around this time the legendary figure of Hermes Trismegistus developed as a conflation of the Egyptian god Thoth and

4332-602: The Franciscan friar Roger Bacon (c. 1214–94) stated that books falsely claiming to be by ancient authors "ought to be prohibited by law." As the early modern period commenced in the late 15th century, many changes began to shock Europe that would have an effect on the production of grimoires. Historian Owen Davies classed the most important of these as the Protestant Reformation , and subsequent Catholic Counter-Reformation ; The Witch-hunts , and

4446-512: The Galdrabók , where numerous symbols of mystic origin are dedicated to the practitioner. These pieces give a perfect fusion of Germanic pagan and Christian influence, seeking splendid help from the Norse gods and referring to the titles of demons. The advent of printing in Europe meant that books could be mass-produced for the first time and could reach an ever-growing literate audience. Among

4560-740: The Jewish mysticism known as the Kabbalah , which was spread across the continent by Pico della Mirandola and Johannes Reuchlin . The most important magician of the Renaissance was Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), who widely studied occult topics and earlier grimoires and eventually published his own, the Three Books of Occult Philosophy , in 1533. A similar figure was the Swiss magician known as Paracelsus (1493–1541), who published Of

4674-660: The Key of Solomon ) were reclaimed by para- Masonic magical organisations, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Ordo Templi Orientis . The Secret Grimoire of Turiel claims to have been written in the 16th century, but no copy older than 1927 has been produced. A modern grimoire, the Simon Necronomicon , takes its name from a fictional book of magic in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft which

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4788-487: The Key of Solomon , which were still popular. In Christendom, there also began to develop a widespread fear of witchcraft , which was believed to be Satanic in nature. The subsequent hysteria, known as The Witch-hunts , caused the death of around 40,000 people, most of whom were women. Sometimes, those found with grimoires—particularly demonological ones—were prosecuted and dealt with as witches but, in most cases, those accused had no access to such books. Iceland—which had

4902-821: The Little Key of the Whole Art of Hygromancy, Found by Several Craftsmen and by the Holy Prophet Solomon . In the 16th century, this work had been translated into Latin and Italian, being renamed the Clavicula Salomonis , or the Key of Solomon . In Christendom during the medieval age, grimoires were written that were attributed to other ancient figures, thereby supposedly giving them a sense of authenticity because of their antiquity. The German abbot and occultist Trithemius (1462–1516) supposedly had

5016-535: The advent of printing . The Renaissance saw the continuation of interest in magic that had been found in the Medieval period, and in this period, there was an increased interest in Hermeticism among occultists and ceremonial magicians in Europe, largely fueled by the 1471 translation of the ancient Corpus hermeticum into Latin by Marsilio Ficino (1433–99). Alongside this, there was a rise in interest in

5130-561: The 10th-century Ghâyat al-Hakîm , was later translated into Latin and circulated in Europe during the 13th century under the name of the Picatrix . However, not all such grimoires of this era were based upon Arabic sources. The 13th-century Sworn Book of Honorius , for instance, was (like the ancient Testament of Solomon before it) largely based on the supposed teachings of the Biblical king Solomon and included ideas such as prayers and

5244-715: The 18th century, such as Ebenezer Sibly 's A New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology . In the last decades of that century, London experienced a revival of interest in the occult which was further propagated by Francis Barrett 's publication of The Magus in 1801. The Magus contained many things taken from older grimoires—particularly those of Cornelius Agrippa—and, while not achieving initial popularity upon release, it gradually became an influential text. One of Barrett's pupils, John Parkin, created his own handwritten grimoire The Grand Oracle of Heaven, or, The Art of Divine Magic , although it

5358-592: The 19th century, and became relatively popular—particularly in Spain—was the Libro de San Cipriano , or The Book of St. Ciprian , which falsely claimed to date from c. 1000. As with most grimoires of this period, it dealt with (among other things) how to discover treasure. In Germany, with the increased interest in folklore during the 19th century, many historians took an interest in magic and in grimoires. Several published extracts of such grimoires in their own books on

5472-543: The 2007 edition of the College Board's Trend in College Pricing Report published October 2007 : "College costs continue to rise and federal student aid has shown slower growth when adjusted for inflation, while textbooks, as a percentage of total college costs, have remained steady at about 5 percent." In most U.S. K-12 public schools, a local school board votes on which textbooks to purchase from

5586-457: The Amazon kindle, e-textbooks are not an innovation, but have been "gaining momentum". According to the article " Are textbooks obsolete?", publishers and editorials are concerned about the issue of expensive textbooks. "The expense of textbooks is a concern for students, and e-textbooks, address the face of the issue, Williams says " As publishers we understand the high cost of these materials, and

5700-529: The CK-12 catalog. An effort is underway to map state educational standards correlations. Stanford University provided a number of titles in use. Curriki is another modular K-12 content non-profit "empowering educators to deliver and share curricula." Selected Curriki materials are also correlated to U.S. state educational standards. Some Curriki content has been collected into open textbooks and some may be used for modular lessons or special topics. Similar to

5814-696: The Flat World financial model sustainable. However, in January 2013 Flat World Knowledge announced their financial model could no longer sustain their free-to-read options for students. Flat World Knowledge intends to have open textbooks available for the 125 highest-enrolled courses on college campuses within the next few years. CK-12 Flexbooks are the open textbooks designed for United States K-12 courses. CK-12 FlexBooks are designed to facilitate conformance to national and United States and individual state textbook standards. CK-12 FlexBooks are licensed under

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5928-527: The Greek Hermes ; this figure was associated with writing and magic and, therefore, of books on magic. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that books on magic were invented by the Persians . The 1st-century AD writer Pliny the Elder stated that magic had been first discovered by the ancient philosopher Zoroaster around the year 647 BC but that it was only written down in the 5th century BC by

6042-630: The Greeks gave those people not only a "lust" ( aviditatem ) for magic, but a downright "madness" ( rabiem ) for it, and many of their philosophers, such as Pythagoras , Empedocles , Democritus , and Plato traveled abroad to study it, and then returned to teach it.(xxx.2.8-10). Pliny also transmits Ostanes's definition of magic: "As Ostanes said, there are several different kinds of it; he professes to divine ( divina promittit ) from water, globes, air, stars, lamps, basins and axes, and by many other methods, and besides to converse with ghosts and those in

6156-626: The ISBN or title, author and edition, most textbooks can be located through online used booksellers or retailers. Most leading textbook companies publish a new edition every 3 or 4 years, more frequently in math and science. Harvard economics chair James K. Stock has stated that new editions are often not about significant improvements to the content. "New editions are to a considerable extent simply another tool used by publishers and textbook authors to maintain their revenue stream, that is, to keep up prices." A study conducted by The Student PIRGs found that

6270-648: The Kabbalah would influence the creation of a mystical philosophy known as Rosicrucianism , which first appeared in the early 17th century, when two pamphlets detailing the existence of the mysterious Rosicrucian group were published in Germany. These claimed that Rosicrucianism had originated with a Medieval figure known as Christian Rosenkreuz , who had founded the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross; however, there

6384-615: The Supreme Mysteries of Nature , in which he emphasised the distinction between good and bad magic. A third such individual was Johann Georg Faust , upon whom several pieces of later literature were written, such as Christopher Marlowe 's Doctor Faustus , that portrayed him as consulting with demons. The idea of demonology had remained strong in the Renaissance, and several demonological grimoires were published, including The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy , which falsely claimed to having been authored by Cornelius Agrippa, and

6498-444: The actual price the publisher would get for the book. Once a textbook is purchased from a retailer for the first time, there are several ways a student can sell his/her textbooks back at the end of the semester or later. Students can sell to 1) the college/university bookstore; 2) fellow students; 3) numerous online websites; or 4) a student swap service. As for buyback on a specific campus, faculty decisions largely determine how much

6612-482: The aim of reselling them for a profit. Like online marketplaces, online book buyers operate year-round, giving students the opportunity to sell their books even when campus "buyback" periods are not in effect. Online book buyers, who are often online book sellers as well, will sometimes disclaim whether or not a book can be sold back prior to purchase. Students enter the ISBN numbers of the books they wish to sell and receive

6726-406: The arts", to that country. But the figure of Ostanes was such that Pliny felt "it necessary to supplement his history with doppelgangers"; so, not only does Ostanes appear as a contemporary of the early 5th century BCE Xerxes, but he is also contemporary with—and companion of—the late 4th century BCE Alexander . Pliny goes on to note that Ostanes's introduction of the "monstrous craft" to

6840-407: The books themselves are believed to be imbued with magical powers. The only contents found in a grimoire would be information on spells, rituals , the preparation of magical tools, and lists of ingredients and their magical correspondences . In this manner, while all books on magic could be thought of as grimoires, not all magical books should be thought of as grimoires. While the term grimoire

6954-670: The building of The Temple and relates that construction was hampered by demons until the archangel Michael gave the King a magical ring. The ring, engraved with the Seal of Solomon , had the power to bind demons from doing harm. Solomon used it to lock demons in jars and commanded others to do his bidding, although eventually, according to the Testament , he was tempted into worshiping "false gods", such as Moloch , Baal , and Rapha . Subsequently, after losing favour with God, King Solomon wrote

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7068-604: The bundled items in their courses. A 2005 Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report in the United States found that the production of these supplemental items was the primary cause of rapidly increasing prices: While publishers, retailers, and wholesalers all play a role in textbook pricing, the primary factor contributing to increases in the price of textbooks has been the increased investment publishers have made in new products to enhance instruction and learning...While wholesalers, retailers, and others do not question

7182-465: The charges for returned books from bookstores. According to the National Association of College Stores, the entire cost of the book is justified by expenses, with typically 11.7% of the price of a new book going to the author's royalties (or a committee of editors at the publishing house), 22.7% going to the store, and 64.6% going to the publisher. The store and publisher amounts are slightly higher for Canada. Bookstores and used-book vendors profit from

7296-550: The city of Ephesus ; this advice was adopted on a large scale after the Christian ascent to power. In the medieval period , the production of grimoires continued in Christendom , as well as amongst Jews and the followers of the newly founded Islamic faith. As the historian Owen Davies noted, "while the [Christian] Church was ultimately successful in defeating pagan worship it never managed to demarcate clearly and maintain

7410-405: The city of Uruk and dated to between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The ancient Egyptians also employed magical incantations, which have been found inscribed on amulets and other items. The Egyptian magical system, known as heka , was greatly altered and expanded after the Macedonians , led by Alexander the Great , invaded Egypt in 332 BC. Under the next three centuries of Hellenistic Egypt ,

7524-443: The convenience of their service. Some even claim that buying used textbooks online and selling them to online book buyers has a lower total cost than even textbook rental services. In response to escalating textbook prices, limited competition, and to provide a more efficient system to connect buyers and sellers together, online textbook exchanges were developed. Most of today's sites handle buyer and seller payments, and usually deduct

7638-476: The copies of the textbook. Legislation at state and federal levels seeks to limit the practice of bundling, by requiring publishers to offer all components separately. Publishers have testified in favor of bills including this provision, but only in the case that the provision exempts the loosely defined category of "integrated textbooks". The Federal bill only exempts 3rd party materials in integrated textbooks, however publisher lobbyists have attempted to create

7752-442: The cost of textbooks and supplies for degree-seeking students as a percentage of tuition and fees varies by the type of institution attended. For example, the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student for academic year 2003–2004 was $ 898 at 4-year public institutions, or about 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees. At 2-year public institutions, where low-income students are more likely to pursue

7866-557: The earliest books to be printed were magical texts. The nóminas were one example, consisting of prayers to the saints used as talismans. It was particularly in Protestant countries, such as Switzerland and the German states, which were not under the domination of the Roman Catholic Church, where such grimoires were published. Despite the advent of print, however, handwritten grimoires remained highly valued, as they were believed to contain inherent magical powers, and they continued to be produced. With increasing availability, people lower down

7980-481: The effects of differential pricing on college stores, the National Association of College Stores has called on publishers to stop the practice of selling textbooks at lower prices outside the United States. For example, some U.S. booksellers arrange for drop-shipments in foreign countries which are then re-shipped to America where the books can be sold online at used prices (for a "new" unopened book). The authors often getting half-royalties instead of full-royalties, minus

8094-415: The effort of creating an open textbook without realistic compensation, to make such a proposal work. Currently, some open textbooks have been funded with non-profit investment. The other challenge involves the reality of publishing, which is that textbooks with good sales and profitability subsidize the creation and publication of low demand but believed to be necessary textbooks. Subsidies skew markets and

8208-408: The electronic format permit us diminish the general expense of our content to the market". E-textbook applications facilitate similar experiences to physical textbooks by allowing the user to highlight and take notes in-page. These applications also extend textbook learning by providing quick definitions, reading the text aloud, and search functionality. In-store rentals are processed by either using

8322-548: The elimination of subsidies is disruptive; in the case of low demand textbooks the possibilities following subsidy removal include any or all of the following: higher retail prices, a switch to open textbooks, a reduction of the number of titles published. On the other hand, independent open textbook authoring and publishing models are developing. Most notably, the startup publisher Flat World Knowledge already has dozens of college-level open textbooks that are used by more than 900 institutions in 44 countries. Their business model

8436-399: The field of books came with the 15th-century invention of printing with changeable type. The invention is attributed to German metalsmith Johannes Gutenberg, who cast type in molds using a melted metal alloy and constructed a wooden-screw printing press to transfer the image onto paper. Gutenberg's first and only large-scale printing effort was the now iconic Gutenberg Bible in the 1450s –

8550-419: The figure of "Ostanes", or rather, who the Greeks imagined him to be, lies within the framework of "alien wisdom" that the Greeks (and later Romans) ascribed to famous foreigners, many of whom were famous to the Greeks even before being co-opted as authors of arcana. One of these names was that of (pseudo-)Zoroaster , whom the Greeks perceived to be the founder of the magi and of their magi cal arts. Another name

8664-477: The history of magic, thereby helping to further propagate them. Perhaps the most notable of these was the Protestant pastor Georg Conrad Horst (1779–1832) who, from 1821 to 1826, published a six-volume collection of magical texts in which he studied grimoires as a peculiarity of the Medieval mindset. Another scholar of the time interested in grimoires, the antiquarian bookseller Johann Scheible first published

8778-452: The inflation rate for all finished goods, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index. The wholesale prices charged by textbook publishers have jumped 62 percent since 1994, while prices charged for all finished goods increased only 14 percent. Similarly, the prices charged by publishers for general books increased just 19 percent during the same time period." According to

8892-517: The invention of the Greek alphabet 2,500 years ago, knowledge and stories were recited aloud, much like Homer 's epic poems. The new technology of writing meant stories no longer needed to be memorized, a development Socrates feared would weaken the Greeks' mental capacities for memorizing and retelling. (Ironically, we know about Socrates' concerns only because they were written down by his student Plato in his famous Dialogues.) The next revolution in

9006-443: The issue of reimportation of pharmaceuticals into the U.S. market, the GAO report also highlights a similar phenomenon in textbook distribution. Retailers and publishers have expressed concern about the re-importation of lower-priced textbooks from international locations. Specifically, they cited the ability students have to purchase books from online distribution channels outside the United States at lower prices, which may result in

9120-592: The legendary eighth Book of Moses (the first five being the initial books in the Biblical Old Testament ), present him as a polytheist who explained how to conjure gods and subdue demons. Meanwhile, there is definite evidence of grimoires being used by certain—particularly Gnostic —sects of early Christianity . In the Book of Enoch found within the Dead Sea Scrolls , for instance, there

9234-409: The magician Osthanes . His claims are not, however, supported by modern historians. The ancient Jewish people were often viewed as being knowledgeable in magic, which, according to legend, they had learned from Moses , who had learned it in Egypt. Among many ancient writers, Moses was seen as an Egyptian rather than a Jew. Two manuscripts likely dating to the 4th century, both of which purport to be

9348-422: The mass production made possible by the printing press. Johannes Gutenberg himself may have printed editions of Ars Minor , a schoolbook on Latin grammar by Aelius Donatus . Early textbooks were used by tutors and teachers (e.g. alphabet books), as well as by individuals who taught themselves. The Greek philosopher Socrates lamented the loss of knowledge because the media of transmission were changing. Before

9462-513: The name of one of the sons of Darius Nothos , and a mention in Arrian ( An. 4.22) of a certain Αὐστάνης of Paraetakene, north-east of Bactria, who was captured by Alexander's general Krateros and then taken to India. Arrian's Αὐστάνης is Haustanes in Curtius 8.5. Ktesias names 'Άρτόστης' as the son of Darius Nothus, and Justi suggests that Plutarch confused Artostes as Ostanes. The origins of

9576-451: The new cost, for distribution to other bookstores. Some textbook companies have countered this by encouraging teachers to assign homework that must be done on the publisher's website. Students with a new textbook can use the pass code in the book to register on the site; otherwise they must pay the publisher to access the website and complete assigned homework. Students who look beyond the campus bookstore can typically find lower prices. With

9690-667: The number of providers has declined in recent years (there are just a handful of major textbook companies in the United States). Also, elasticity of demand is fairly low. The term "broken market" appeared in the economist James Koch's analysis of the market commissioned by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. In the United States, the largest textbook publishers are Pearson Education , Cengage , McGraw-Hill Education , and Wiley . Together they control 90% of market revenue. Another textbook publisher

9804-454: The physical store or shipped back to the third party facilitator by the rental due date. Writing and highlighting is sometimes allowed in rented items, although excessive markup which makes the item unrentable is discouraged. Overdue items are often charged a fee up to the retail price of the rented item. Rented items typically do not include supplemental materials such as access codes, CDs, or loose-leafs. Using textbook sharing, students share

9918-428: The physical textbook with other students, and the cost of the book is divided among the users of the textbook. Over the life of the textbook, if 4 students use the textbook, the cost of the textbook for each student will be 25% of the total cost of the book. The latest trend in textbooks is "open textbooks". An open textbook is a free, openly licensed textbook offered online by the copyright holders. According to PIRG,

10032-524: The police viewed them as social pests who took money from the gullible, often in a search for treasure. In doing so, they confiscated many grimoires. Beginning in the 17th century, a new, ephemeral form of printed literature developed in France; the Bibliothèque bleue . Many grimoires published through this circulated among a growing percentage of the populace; in particular, the Grand Albert ,

10146-475: The price. The US Congress passed a law in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act that would require price disclosure. Legislation requiring price disclosure has passed in Connecticut, Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Publishers are currently supporting price disclosure mandates, though they insist that the "suggested retail price" should be disclosed, rather than

10260-433: The quality of these materials, they have expressed concern that the publishers' practice of packaging supplements with a textbook to sell as one unit limits the opportunity students have to purchase less expensive used books....If publishers continue to increase these investments, particularly in technology, the cost to produce a textbook is likely to continue to increase in the future. Bundling has also been used to segment

10374-488: The rationalists and the church—soon spread to neighbouring countries, such as Spain and Germany. In Switzerland, Geneva was commonly associated with the occult at the time, particularly by Catholics, because it had been a stronghold of Protestantism. Many of those interested in the esoteric traveled from Roman Catholic nations to Switzerland to purchase grimoires or to study with occultists. Soon, grimoires appeared that involved Catholic saints ; one example that appeared during

10488-442: The report contains factual inaccuracies regarding the annual average cost of textbooks per student. The Student PIRGs also point out that recent emphasis on e-textbooks does not always save students money. Even though the book costs less up-front, the student will not recover any of the cost through resale. Another publishing industry practice that has been highly criticized is "bundling", or shrink-wrapping supplemental items into

10602-889: The resale of textbooks on the used market, with publishers only earning profits on sales of new textbooks. According to the GAO study published July 2005: Following closely behind annual increases in tuition and fees at postsecondary institutions, college textbook and supply prices have risen at twice the rate of annual inflation over the last two decades. Rising at an average of 6 percent each year since academic year 1987–1988, compared with overall average price increases of 3 percent per year, college textbook and supply prices trailed tuition and fee increases, which averaged 7 percent per year. Since December 1986, textbook and supply prices have nearly tripled, increasing by 186 percent, while tuition and fees increased by 240 percent and overall prices grew by 72 percent. While increases in textbook and supply prices have followed increases in tuition and fees,

10716-424: The respective companies to continue to operate. Students can also sell or trade textbooks among themselves. After completing a course, sellers will often seek out members of the next enrolling class, people who are likely to be interested in purchasing the required books. This may be done by posting flyers to advertise the sale of the books or simply soliciting individuals who are shopping in the college bookstore for

10830-536: The resulting growth of schooling in Europe led to the printing of many more textbooks for children. Textbooks have been the primary teaching instrument for most children since the 19th century. Two textbooks of historical significance in United States schooling were the 18th century New England Primer and the 19th century McGuffey Readers . Recent technological advances have changed the way people interact with textbooks. Online and digital materials are making it increasingly easy for students to access materials other than

10944-418: The sale of used books , and would make that entire industry illegal. Another alternative to save money and obtaining the materials you are required are e-textbooks. The article "E books rewrite the rules of education" states that, alternately to spending a lot of money on textbooks, you can purchase an e-textbook at a small amount of the cost. With the growth of digital applications for iPhone, and gadgets like

11058-419: The sale of used books. The concept is not unlike the limited licensing approach for computer software, which places rigid restrictions on resale and reproduction. The intent is to make users understand that the content of any textbook is the intellectual property of the author and/or the publisher, and that as such, subject to copyright. Obviously, this idea is completely opposed to the millennia-old tradition of

11172-510: The same titles. Many larger schools have independent websites set up for the purpose of facilitating such trade. These often operate much like digital classified ads, enabling students to list their items for sale and browse for those they wish to acquire. Also, at the US Air Force Academy , it is possible to e-mail entire specific classes, allowing for an extensive network of textbook sales to exist. Online marketplaces are one of

11286-519: The social scale and women began to have access to books on magic; this was often incorporated into the popular folk magic of the average people and, in particular, that of the cunning folk , who were professionally involved in folk magic. These works left Europe and were imported to the parts of Latin America controlled by the Spanish and Portuguese empires and the parts of North America controlled by

11400-648: The term grimoire later developed into a figure of speech among the French indicating something that was hard to understand. In the 19th century, with the increasing interest in occultism among the British following the publication of Francis Barrett 's The Magus (1801), the term entered English in reference to books of magic. The earliest known written magical incantations come from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq ), where they have been found inscribed on cuneiform clay tablets that archaeologists excavated from

11514-407: The traditional print textbook. Students now have access to electronic books ("e-books"), online tutoring systems and video lectures. An example of an e-book is Principles of Biology from Nature Publishing . Most notably, an increasing number of authors are avoiding commercial publishers and instead offering their textbooks under a creative commons or other open license. As in many industries,

11628-648: The two major types of online websites students can use to sell used textbooks. Online marketplaces may have an online auction format or may allow the student to list their books for a fixed price. In either case, the student must create the listing for each book themselves and wait for a buyer to order, making the use of marketplaces a more passive way of selling used textbooks. Unlike campus buyback and online book, students are unlikely to sell all their books to one buyer using online marketplaces, and will likely have to send out multiple books individually. Online book buyers buy textbooks, and sometimes other types of books, with

11742-656: The underworld" (xxx.2.8-10). By the end of the 1st century CE, "Ostanes" is cited as an authority on alchemy , necromancy , divination, and on the mystical properties of plants and stones. Both his legend and literary output attributed to him increased with time, and by the 4th century "he had become one of the great authorities in alchemy" and "much medieval alchemical material circulated under his name." This "authority" continued in Arabic and Persian alchemical literature, such as an Arabic treatise titled Kitab al-Fusul al-ithnay ‘ashar fi 'ilm al-hajar al-mukarram ( The Book of

11856-403: The used book market. Each combination of a textbook and supplemental items receives a separate ISBN. A single textbook could therefore have dozens of ISBNs that denote different combinations of supplements packaged with that particular book. When a bookstore attempts to track down used copies of textbooks, they will search for the ISBN the course instructor orders, which will locate only a subset of

11970-508: The value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power." Acts 19, c.  1st century Israelite King Solomon was a Biblical figure associated with magic and sorcery in the ancient world. The 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian Josephus mentioned a book circulating under the name of Solomon that contained incantations for summoning demons and described how

12084-479: The work as a warning and a guide to the reader. When Christianity became the dominant faith of the Roman Empire , the early Church frowned upon the propagation of books on magic, connecting it with paganism , and burned books of magic. The New Testament records that after the unsuccessful exorcism by the seven sons of Sceva became known, many converts decided to burn their own magic and pagan books in

12198-415: Was attributed." Thus, while "universal consensus"—so the skeptical Pliny—was that magic began with (pseudo-)Zoroaster (xxx.2.3), as far as Pliny says he could determine, "Ostanes" was the first extant writer of it (xxx.2.8). This 'Ostanes', so Pliny states, was a Persian magus who had accompanied Xerxes in his invasion of Greece, and who had then introduced magicis , the "most fraudulent of

12312-581: Was inspired by Babylonian mythology and the Ars Goetia —one of the five books that make up The Lesser Key of Solomon —concerning the summoning of demons. The Azoëtia of Andrew D. Chumbley has been described by Gavin Semple as a modern grimoire. The neopagan religion of Wicca publicly appeared in the 1940s, and Gerald Gardner introduced the Book of Shadows as a Wiccan grimoire. The term grimoire commonly serves as an alternative name for

12426-516: Was never published, largely because Britain was at war with France , and grimoires were commonly associated with the French. The only writer to publish British grimoires widely in the early 19th century was Robert Cross Smith , who released The Philosophical Merlin (1822) and The Astrologer of the Nineteenth Century (1825), but neither sold well. In the late 19th century, several of these texts (including The Book of Abramelin and

12540-429: Was no evidence for the existence of Rosenkreuz or the Brotherhood. The 18th century saw the rise of the Enlightenment , a movement devoted to science and rationalism , predominantly amongst the ruling classes. However, amongst much of Europe, belief in magic and witchcraft persisted, as did the witch trials in certain areas. Governments tried to crack down on magicians and fortune tellers , particularly in France, where

12654-532: Was not acceptable, because it was believed that such magic did not come from God, but from the Devil and his demons. These grimoires dealt in such topics as necromancy , divination and demonology . Despite this, "there is ample evidence that the mediaeval clergy were the main practitioners of magic and therefore the owners, transcribers, and circulators of grimoires," while several grimoires were attributed to Popes . One such Arabic grimoire devoted to astral magic,

12768-542: Was published under the title of the Grand Grimoire , which was considered particularly powerful, because it involved conjuring and making a pact with the devil's chief minister, Lucifugé Rofocale , to gain wealth from him. A new version of this grimoire was later published under the title of the Dragon rouge and was available for sale in many Parisian bookstores. Similar books published in France at this time included

12882-446: Was that of (pseudo-) Hystaspes , Zoroaster's patron. The third of les Mages hellénisés was Ostanes, imaginatively described by the 4th century BCE Hermodorus (apud Diogenes Laërtius Prooemium 2) as being a magus in the long line of magi descending from Zoroaster. Once the magi had been associated with "magic"—Greek magikos —it was but a natural progression that the Greek's image of Zoroaster would metamorphose into

12996-403: Was to offer the open textbook free online, and then sell ancillary products that students are likely to buy if prices are reasonable – print copies, study guides, ePub , .Mobi ( Kindle ), PDF download, etc. Flat World Knowledge compensates its authors with royalties on these sales. With the generated revenue Flat World Knowledge funded high-quality publishing activities with a goal of making

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