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Colored drawings, Mary Sackett papers, approximately 1900

Total Eclipse, James Francis Driscoll collection of American sheet music

Dill Pickle Club records [box 001], 1906-1941

Astronomical texts (in Catalan), 1425-1475

Ever since we asked for help transcribing and translating the Book of Magical Charms (Newberry MS 5017) in 2017, people have been fascinated with and... concerned about this little manuscript.

But what IS this book, really? It's not a spell book of black magic--it's commonplace book! A collection of recipes, quotations, and yes, magical charms copied down by a lawyer and book collector named Robert Ashley in the 1600s. In a time where the magical and mundane seemed to coexist, Ashley collected a variety of guides that may have been able to help him address health issues--some which claimed to have scientific backing, others which are purely magic. (He also copied down some experiments that were supposed to help him win at dice.)

In early modern England, Christianity and magic were closely linked, and this book would not have been seen as blasphemous. However, it's unlikely that Ashley attempted any of these spells himself, as he had little privacy or ability to procure obscure ingredients. You can see a few excerpts of the book here:

If you're interested in summoning spirits yourself*, you will be happy to hear that the Book of Charms has been fully transcribed and translated by amazing volunteers. But wait, I hear you saying, I don't see the transcriptions at that link! I only see a very cool manuscript!

Don't worry, it's only a click away. Simply right click then "view details" on any page that you want to see the transcription/translation for, and scroll down to read. The translation follows the transcription in the same text box. Happy summoning!

*The Newberry is NOT liable for anything supernatural that happens if you try to read the Book of Charms out loud.

–Quinn Sluzenski, Digital Initiatives Assistant

View the Book of Charms and more at A Very Newberry Halloween

for more information:

Our newest coloring book is our most complex yet--five original coloring pages based on the newly digitzed Novacco Map Collection, which includes over 700 maps primarily printed in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Close-up from La Descriptione de la Pvglia (1567), an map of Puglia, Italy in the Newberry's Franco Novacco Map Collection.

2023 was a big year for Postcard Tag, the Newberry Library's project for crowdsourcing postcard transcriptions and classifications. We rebuilt the backend of the program in July to make it more efficient and added all-new cards to tag and enjoy (including the above sequence).

Before that changeover, our taggers submitted 1895 classifications. After the revamp, which also added transcription, taggers:

Classified 1798 postcards

Transcribed 2691 postcards

Finalized 1892 of those transcriptions, which are now in our digital collections.

That's 6384 submissions altogether in 2023! Whether you contributed 1, 100, or you're just learning about Postcard Tag for the first time from this post, thank you for being part of Digital Newberry and helping make our collections more searchable and accessible for future generations 💖 We have great eggspectations for you in 2024.

Visit Postcard Tag