Ancient curses The earliest known book curse can be traced to
Ashurbanipal,
King of Assyria from 668 to 627 BC, who had the following curse written on many or all of the tablets collected at the library at
Ninevah, considered to be the earliest example of a systematically collected library: I have transcribed upon tablets the noble products of the work of the scribe which none of the kings who have gone before me had learned, together with the wisdom of
Nabu insofar as it existeth [in writing]. I have arranged them in classes, I have revised them and I have placed them in my palace, that I, even I, the ruler who knoweth the light of
Ashur, the king of the gods, may read them. Whosoever shall carry off this tablet, or shall inscribe his name on it, side by side with mine own, may Ashur and
Belit overthrow him in wrath and anger, and may they destroy his name and posterity in the land. Another curse from Ninevah states: "Whoever removes [the tablet], writes his name in the place of my name, may Ashur and
Ninlil, angered and grim, cast him down, erase his name, his seed, in the land." Other book curses were more discreet: "He who fears
Anu,
Enlil, and
Ea will return it to the owner's house the same day", and "He who fears Anu and
Antu will take care of it and respect it". Because these tablets were made of clay, and thus easily vandalized, there were specific curses to protect against such acts, such as: "In the name of Nabu and Marduk, do not rub out the text!" A more detailed curse to prevent vandalism went as follows: He who breaks this tablet or puts it in water or rubs it until you cannot recognize it [and] cannot make it to be understood, may Ashur,
Sin,
Shamash,
Adad and
Ishtar, Bel,
Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh,
Ishtar of Arbela, Ishtar of Bit Kidmurri, the gods of heaven and earth and the gods of
Assyria, may all these curse him with a curse that cannot be relieved, terrible and merciless, as long as he lives, may they let his name, his seed, be carried off from the land, may they put his flesh in a dog's mouth. Book curses date back to the creation of libraries themselves. Ancient librarians have historically regarded book thieves on par with murderers and blasphemers. Ancient librarians invoked the wrath of the gods upon book thieves and vandals. Ancient curses were even used to discourage lending books to others. One such curse stated: "He who entrusts [this book] to [others'] hands, may all the gods who are found in
Babylon curse him!"
Medieval curses that warns "whoever takes it away or alienates or tears out a sheet, be damned" In their medieval usage, many of these
curses vowed that harsh repercussions would be inflicted on anyone who appropriated the work from its proper owner. The punishments usually included
excommunication,
damnation, or
anathema. Excommunication was the lightest of the curses because it is a reversible state. Both excommunication and anathema required identification of the guilty party as well as action on the part of the Church. Damnation had the benefit of not requiring human intervention as it was a state that the Creator, not the Church, visited instantly upon the soul of the perpetrator. All three types of curses were considered to be effective deterrents against the book thief. At the time, these curses provided a significant social and religious penalty for those who would steal or deface books, which were all considered to be precious works before the advent of the
printing press. Writes Stephen Greenblatt, in
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern: "Books were scarce and valuable. They conferred prestige on the monastery that possessed them, and the monks were not inclined to let them out of their sight. On occasion monasteries tried to secure their possession by freighting their precious manuscripts with curses." Medieval scribes wrote most curses in the book's
colophon, the one place in the manuscript where a scribe could write freely. Each book curse tends to be unique, and some include clever rhymes: The Greek Orthodox patriarch
Theodosius the Prince added curses to his manuscripts pronouncing anathema on anyone who removed the from the church to which he bequeathed them, the church where he was to be buried. The book
Anathema! Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses by
Marc Drogin This practice has changed again back to using handwritten names on the interior front cover of books. In contrast, a scribe from the Evesham Abbey wrote, "A colophon that praises the scribe's work — and requests high-quality wine ('vini nobilis haustum') for him as a reward — ends with a curse in which the book's thief is wished a 'death from evil things: may the thief of this book die' (Morteque malorum: raptor libri moriatur)".
Additional book curse examples One oft-quoted example of a book curse, purportedly from a
Barcelona monastery, taken from the 1909 hoax ''The Old Librarian's Almanack'': And what Condemnation shall befit the accurst Wretch (for he cannot justly claim the title of Man) who pilfers and purloins for his own selfish ends such a precious article as a Book? I am reminded of the Warning display'd in the Library of the Popish Monastery of San Pedro at Barcelona. This is the version English'd by Sir Matthew Manhan, who saw it writ in Latin in the Monastery, as he himself describes in his learn'd Book,
Travels in Spanish Countries, 1712. The Warning reads thusly: "For him that stealeth a Book from this Library, let it change to a Serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with
Palsy, and all his Members blasted. Let him languish in Pain, crying aloud for Mercy and let there be no surcease to his Agony till he sink to Dissolution. Let Book-worms gnaw his Entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, and when at last he goeth to his final Punishment let the Flames of Hell consume him for ever and aye." ==Document curse==