Enigmatic books, manuscripts and prophecies from around the world, such as the undeciphered Voynich Manuscript and the Codex Gigas, the “Devil’s Bible”.
Entries: 20
A book said to have been given to Adam, the first man, by the angel Raziel, containing all the secrets of the universe. Legend says it later passed to Noah and King Solomon. In reality it is a work of Jewish mysticism compiled in the Middle Ages, first printed in 1701 and treasured as a protective charm.
A 1999 manga by Ryo Tatsuki. The words "great disaster in March 2011" on its cover were said to have predicted the Great East Japan Earthquake. A precognitive dream of "July 2025" in the 2021 complete edition spread abroad as the "July 5" prophecy, but no great disaster happened.
A Western grimoire compiled around the 17th century. Based on the legend that King Solomon commanded 72 demons, its first part, the "Goetia," records the names, appearances, seals (sigils) and summoning methods of 72 demons. It is famous as the source of demons in games and manga.
The general name for European books of magic recording how to summon angels, demons and spirits and how to make amulets and magic circles. They spread from the Middle Ages to the early modern period as manuscripts and cheap printed books. Famous examples include the "Key of Solomon" and the "Lemegeton," and they became the model for the spellbooks of fantasy fiction.
A fictional grimoire created by the American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft in his stories. A forbidden book written by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred, it is said to drive its readers insane. It became a central item of the Cthulhu Mythos, and fake books claiming to be "the real thing" have even been published.
A legendary book of prophecy said to have been written on palm leaves by the ancient Indian sage Agastya, foretelling the fates of the people who would visit. In Tamil Nadu in southern India, there are "Nadi reading" houses where people have their own leaf found by their thumbprint and read to them.
A 448-page manuscript written in an unknown script, held by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Its name comes from its former location, Rohonc (today Rechnitz, Austria). It has Christian and pagan illustrations, but its script remains undeciphered.
A book of myths and history handed down among the K'iche' Maya of Guatemala in Central America. It records the creation of the world, how humans were made from maize, and the hero twins who fought the gods of the underworld in a ball game. It is considered the most important book preserving Maya mythology.
Ancient manuscripts discovered in 1947 by a shepherd boy in caves at Qumran by the Dead Sea. Dating from about the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD, they include some of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Old Testament and have been called "the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century."
A 15th-century manuscript filled with writing no one can read and strange illustrations of plants that do not exist and naked women. Discovered by the book dealer Wilfrid Voynich in 1912, it remains undeciphered despite theories of a cipher, an artificial language or a hoax.
A collection of prophetic verses by Nostradamus, a 16th-century French physician and astrologer. In Japan it became a social phenomenon when the verse "In the year 1999, seventh month, from the sky will come a great King of Terror" was interpreted as a prophecy of humanity's destruction.
A book said to have been written by Prince Shotoku foretelling the future of Japan. The Taiheiki tells how Kusunoki Masashige read it at Shitennoji Temple and learned of the fall of the Kamakura shogunate. No original survives, and many "Miraiki" were produced in the medieval period.
A Latin book of magic handed down in 16th-century England. It was owned by John Dee, a scholar who served Elizabeth I, who is recorded as having communicated with angels to decipher it. Long thought lost, copies were rediscovered in 1994.
A book of sorcery that Zhang Jiao, who started the Yellow Turban Rebellion, is said to have received from an immortal in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It was said to contain arts for summoning wind and rain. Its model is thought to be the Taiping Jing (Taiping Qingling Shu), a Taoist scripture that actually existed in the Eastern Han period.
An alchemical picture scroll several meters long named after the 15th-century English alchemist George Ripley. It depicts the making of the philosopher's stone in symbolic pictures of dragons, birds and alchemists, with verses. About twenty copies from the 16th–17th centuries survive.
A collection of spells placed in tombs with mummies in ancient Egypt, so the dead could travel safely through the underworld and enter paradise. Written on papyrus, it is famous for the "final judgment" scene in which the dead person's heart is weighed against a feather on scales. Its original title was "The Book of Coming Forth by Day."
An encyclopedia of an imaginary world drawn by the Italian artist Luigi Serafini, published in 1981. Filled with an unreadable script and illustrations of creatures, machines and customs that could not exist, it is called "the modern Voynich Manuscript."
One of the largest medieval manuscripts in the world, made at a monastery in Bohemia (today's Czech Republic) in the early 13th century. It weighs about 75 kg. Because it contains a large picture of the devil, it is called the "Devil's Bible," and a legend says a monk wrote it in one night with the devil's help.
One of the oldest works of literature in the world, born in ancient Mesopotamia. It tells of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who defeats monsters with his friend Enkidu and, after his friend's death, travels in search of immortality. It includes a great flood story very similar to Noah's Ark.
The novel published in 1818 by Mary Shelley of England. The young scientist Frankenstein creates an artificial human from corpses but is tormented by the monster he made. Frankenstein is the name of the scientist, not the monster. It is often called the first work of science fiction.
