Lives of the Necromancers

Traditions

Renaissance magic and Christian Cabala Grimoires and ritual magic

Role in the tradition

Secondary source A study of the tradition from outside it: history, scholarship, anthropology or reference.

Public attention

Minor Wikipedia has an article about it in 2 languages.

• Read at gutenberg.org ↗ gutenberg.org checked September 11, 2026

Lives of the necromancers or An account of the most eminent persons in successive ages who have claimed for themselves or to whom has been imputed by others the exercise of magical powers (1834) was the final book written by English journalist, political philosopher and novelist William Godwin. The book concerns paranormal legends from western and Middle Eastern history. In 1835 it was reviewed by Edgar Allan Poe of the Southern Literary Messenger.

From the Wikipedia article Lives of the Necromancers, revision 1359602158, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata Q14946219: “1834 book by William Godwin”.