Uses an eighteenth century German case-study to examine the clandestine, and sometimes illegal, practices of the early modern European book trade
Addresses questions of censorship regimes and efficiency, of the textual-ritual tradition and eventual canon formations of 'Western learned magic', and of the status and use of handwritten books in an alleged 'age of print'

Provides a methodological pathway towards an interdisciplinary, integrative, and thus more comprehensive analysis of books of 'learned magic' in and beyond early modern times