- 🔀 This article is about the fictional book. For the real anthology see The Book of Eibon
“ | . . . The Book of Eibon, that strangest and rarest of occult forgotten volumes ... is said to have come down through a series of manifold translations from a prehistoric original written in the lost language of Hyperborea. | „ | |
~ Clark Ashton Smith, "Ubbo-Sathla" |
The Book of Eibon, also known as the Liber Ivonis or Livre d'Eibon, is a fictional grimoire created by Clark Ashton Smith. Part of Smith's Hyperborea setting, he attributed the book to the magician Eibon of Mhu Thulan, and the French translation to Gaspard du Nord of Averoigne.
One of Smith's stories, "The Coming of the White Worm", is presented as a chapter of the Book of Eibon.
H. P. Lovecraft mentioned the Book of Eibon repeatedly in his own fiction. Other members of the Lovecraft circle, such as Robert Bloch and August Derleth, mentioned it in their Mythos stories as well.
Brian Lumley mentions the book in his story, "The Second Wish".
The book was passed down by secret cults to the present day. Never printed until the 20th century, there are many editions which vary widely, from tablets to scrolls. It is a key text in the Tsathogguan Cycle.
Editions[]
- The Kishite Version
- The Punic (1600 B.C.)
- The Greek Edition
- The Latin Liber Ivonis (10th-11th century)
- Livre d'Ivon (13th century)
- The only printed version, the Adkins and Jones Edition of the Latin text (A.D. 1937)
Contents[]
Among other topics, the book includes:
- A spell for the emanation of Yoth that requires a child's blood (HPL: "The Man of Stone")
- A method of giving people the Green Decay (HPL: "The Man of Stone")
- The third part is entitled "Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom," and consists of a treatise of considerable length on theogony. It discusses "the hidden origins of the Earth, the creation of the first of the Old Ones, the cause of their rebellion against the Elder Gods, the war between the two groups of divinities, the flight into this dimension of space /time by the Old Ones, and so on--a capsule history of the Elder World." (EXP: "The Unbegotten Source")
Quotes[]
“ | ... And it has been said that another realm, beyond that of common occurrence, lies waiting those who dare to enter. Many have tried drugs and herbs while others recommend to me the use of mesmerism to journey to these bizarre and distant worlds. Within, much can be learned first-hand . . . others have told of the great artist, Rhydagand, who needed but to paint a picture of whither he wished to journey, and then by sleeping near this drawing was magically transported there... those who would travel in these, the darkest parts of this strange world, do well to protect themselves against the foul dog-like denizens of this unholy realm. This protection is partially afforded by that sign of ancient Aegyptus, the scholar says, the ankh, which is reverenced as much as anything by the beasts that live in the pestiferous burrows that dot this land . . . this odd man, traveler to foreign realms, related the story of Ghadamon to me. How the thing had been spawned on the flesh of human brains and secreted beneath a great lake in a fearsome world of darkness where it would lie for eternal ages, feeding, growing, and waiting. This man did claim that Ghadamon is coming and coming soon. I deemed him mad, but soon later he was murdered by the Oriental One . ... | „ | |
~ EXP: Pickman’s Student, Keith Herber (1986) |
In Other Media[]
- The Book of Eibon is a real book in the Doctor Who universe. There is a copy in the collection of the Library of St John the Beheaded (EXP: Millennial Rites), and another that belonged to Gilles Lemaitre (EXP: White Darkness).
- Another copy is to be found in the basement of Kinomoto's house. (ADJ: Cardcaptor Sakura - Clear Card Arc, chapter 26)
- Vespasianus wields the Book of Eibon and uses it to pilot Cykranosh. (EXP: Demonbane) Although it does not appear in the actual series, an official illustration depicts his grimoire as taking the form of a human girl. (similarly to Al Azif, Etheldreda and the R'lyeh Text)
- The book is featured in 1981 horror film The Beyond, directed by Lucio Fulci.
- In the Blood and Wine expansion for video game The Witcher 3, there is a book by the same name found in a witch's hut.
- In the anime visual novel Corpse Party: Sweet Sachiko's Hysteric Birthday Bash, the Book of Eibon is found by two characters in chapter 7.
- A copy is found in a hollow spot behind the stone walls of the keep in F. Paul Wilson's book The Keep.
- In the survival horror video game ...Iru! (also known as ...They're Here!), a copy can be found on a locked bookshelf in the principal's office at Kirigaoka High.