Key of Solomon

The Key of Solomon (Latin: Clavicula Salomonis, Hebrew: Mafteah Shelomoh [מפתח שלמה]) is a grimoire incorrectly attributed to King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th- or 15th-century Italian Renaissance. It presents a typical example of Renaissance magic.

It is possible that the Key of Solomon inspired later works, particularly the 17th-century grimoire also known as Clavicula Salomonis Regis, The Lesser Key of Solomon or Lemegeton, although there are many differences between the books.

Many such grimoires attributed to King Solomon were written during the Renaissance, ultimately being influenced by earlier works of Jewish kabbalists and Arab alchemists. These, in turn, incorporated aspects of the Greco-Roman magic of Late Antiquity.

Several versions of the Key of Solomon exist, in various translations, with minor to significant differences. The archetype was probably a Latin or Italian text dating to the 14th or 15th century. Most surviving manuscripts date from the late 16th, 17th or 18th centuries. There is also an early Greek manuscript dating to the 15th century (Harleian MS. 5596) that is closely associated with the text. The Greek manuscript is referred to as The Magical Treatise of Solomon, and was published by Armand Delatte in Anecdota Atheniensia (Liége, 1927, pp. 397–445.) Its contents are very similar to the Clavicula, and it may be the prototype on which the Italian or Latin text was based.

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