# Dr. John Dee and the Necronomicon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380 "2013-10-16T06:27:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/21 "2013-10-16T21:23:07Z")
I’ve got a copy in the original Klingon-is it worth anything? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/22 "2013-10-16T21:29:52Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > . . . the 4th ed Call Of Cthulhu rp game. the original Arkham Horror board game . . . I keep S. Petersen’s “Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands” and “Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters” instantly available on my reference bookshelf. You never know when you might need that information in a really big hurry. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/23 "2013-10-16T21:59:48Z")
**thepillar** –there are no historical, theological, or literary references to the Necronomicon, pre-Lovecraft. Period. It’s **fiction**! Don’t believe me? Go to a State run University Library, & look it up. It’s under Fiction or Literature. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/24 "2013-10-16T22:08:54Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’ve got a copy in the original Klingon-is it worth anything? Does it have the tribble illustrations? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/25 "2013-10-16T22:26:02Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Does it have the tribble illustrations? Yes, [in their fully adult form.](http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs41/f/2009/053/1/c/Azathoth_on_His_Dark_Throne_by_TheZebu.jpg) No wonder the Klingons were so scared of them! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/26 "2013-10-16T22:29:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Yes, [in their fully adult form.](http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs41/f/2009/053/1/c/Azathoth_on_His_Dark_Throne_by_TheZebu.jpg) > > No wonder the Klingons were so scared of them! Certainly a Czarcastic reply. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/27 "2013-10-16T22:29:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is this a joke thread? Why should it be a joke? I can quite easily see how the OP could have been misled if he happened upon [the page he linked to](http://www.esotericarchives.com/necronom/necronom.htm), maybe via a Google search. There does not seem to be anything on the page itself to indicate that it is a hoax. You only see that if you reach it via teh link within the site, that is labeled “A FICTIONAL note about Lovecraft and the Necronomicon”. No doubt _you_ would not have been taken in, but I do not think that someone would have to be unusually gullible to be fooled by it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/28 "2013-10-16T22:31:08Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Why should it be a joke? I can quite easily see how the OP could have been misled if he happened upon [the page he linked to](http://www.esotericarchives.com/necronom/necronom.htm), maybe via a Google search. There does not seem to be anything on the page itself to indicate that it is a hoax. You only see that if you reach it via teh link within the site, that is labeled “A FICTIONAL note about Lovecraft and the Necronomicon”. > > No doubt _you_ would not have been taken in, but I do not think that someone would have to be unusually gullible to be fooled by it. Dude, do not piss off a mod, even if they are not terribly intelli…er, even if they take things at face value. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/29 "2013-10-16T23:12:31Z")
> [@thepillar](#): > > I’m sorry, but if you’re referring to this particular link from J.H. Peterson’s page: > > [Necronomicon - shedding some light on Lovecraft's sources](http://www.esotericarchives.com/necronom/necronom.html) > > then NOWHERE is it stated in the manner you’ve put here. You must have the wrong link. On that page, on the top, above the text, there’s a link that says “contents”. If you click on it, it takes you to the site map, here: [http://www.esotericarchives.com/sitemap.htm](http://www.esotericarchives.com/sitemap.htm) The site map has links to all the other pages on the site. If you scroll down to the miscellaneous section at the bottom, you’ll find a link to that original page, which it describes as " A FICTIONAL note about Lovecraft and the Necronomicon" ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/30 "2013-10-16T23:18:09Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > No doubt _you_ would not have been taken in, but I do not think that someone would have to be unusually gullible to be fooled by it. It is a bit unusual that someone would read that and think, “Did John Dee really have both the Latin _and_ Greek translations?” and not “Is this shit made up entirely?” If you’re going to get skeptical about something in that article, that’s an odd place to start. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/31 "2013-10-16T23:18:17Z")
I thought this was a DC comics thread. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/32 "2013-10-16T23:45:15Z")
> [@Albert\_Rose](#): > > I thought this was a DC comics thread. Nah. A thread about DC comics nowadays would be _much_ more horrifying than anything Lovecraft’s ol’ uncaring universe that hates you could dream up. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/33 "2013-10-16T23:49:11Z")
A Google search would have cleared this up. It’s a cool work of fiction with a good backstory, but it’s nothing but fiction. Necronomicon is incorrect Latin, and “Abdul Alhazred” is incorrect Arabic, and Theodoras Philetas didn’t exist either. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/34 "2013-10-16T23:50:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Necronomicon is incorrect Latin… Incorrect Greek, technically. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/35 "2013-10-17T00:20:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Incorrect Greek, technically. Then it’s \*very \*incorrect Latin. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/36 "2013-10-17T01:39:32Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > The site map has links to all the other pages on the site. If you scroll down to the miscellaneous section at the bottom, you’ll find a link to that original page, which it describes as " A FICTIONAL note about Lovecraft and the Necronomicon" That’s what they’d \* like\* you to believe. ---
**Author:** ![thepillar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@thepillar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thepillar)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/37 "2013-10-17T08:13:56Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > On that page, on the top, above the text, there’s a link that says “contents”. If you click on it, it takes you to the site map, here: > > [Twilit Grotto -- Esoteric Archives: site map](http://www.esotericarchives.com/sitemap.htm) > > The site map has links to all the other pages on the site. If you scroll down to the miscellaneous section at the bottom, you’ll find a link to that original page, which it describes as " A FICTIONAL note about Lovecraft and the Necronomicon" Yeah, I’ve seen it. Thanks for clearing that up. It’s just that I have a copy of the _Picatrix_, which was also originally written in Arabic around the same time the Necronomicon was purported to have been composed, and thought that the two texts belonged to the same category. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/38 "2013-10-17T10:09:34Z")
There is a hell of a lot of crap out there written by (often) well-meaning people about the occult. Bring us anything you have a question about and we will straighten it out. Many of us have been doing this for years. ---
**Author:** ![thepillar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@thepillar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thepillar)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/39 "2013-10-17T11:27:45Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > There is a hell of a lot of crap out there written by (often) well-meaning people about the occult. Bring us anything you have a question about and we will straighten it out. Many of us have been doing this for years. Now that you’ve mentioned it, what are your views with regard to the origin, history, authenticity and authorship of the [cipher manuscripts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher_Manuscripts)–[a fragment of which is exhibited here](http://www.controverscial.com/Samuel7.gif)–that led to the formation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn around 1888 in England? ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380/40 "2013-10-17T11:37:33Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > It’s [fiction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necronomicon#Hoaxes_and_alleged_translations). Your source is a crackpot. It’s fiction, sure, but have you read the \*unabridged \*version?? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-john-dee-and-the-necronomicon/671380.md?page=3)