First with three drops of oil I do remove
All evil influence, and I humbly pray,
O beautiful Diana, unto thee
That thou wilt take it all away from me,
And send it all to my worst enemy!When the evil fortune
Is taken from me,
I'll cast it out to the middle of the street:
And if thou wilt grant me this favour,
O beautiful Diana,
Every bell in my house shall merrily ring!Then well contented
I will go forth to roam,
Because I shall be sure that with thy aid
I shall discover ere I return
Some fine and ancient books,
And at a moderate price.And thou shalt find the man,
The one who owns the book,
And thou thyself wilt go
And put it in his mind,
Inspiring him to know
What 'tis that thou would'st find
And move him into doing
All that thou dost require.
Or if a manuscript
Written in ancient days,
Thou'lt gain it all the same,
It shall come in thy way,
And thus at little cost.
Thou shalt buy what thou wilt,
By great Diana's aid.The foregoing was obtained, after some delay, in reply to a query as to
what conjuration would be required before going forth, to make sure that
one should find for sale some rare book, or other object desired, at a very
moderate price. Therefore the invocation has been so worded as to make it
applicable to literary finds; but those who wish to buy anything whatever
on equally favourable terms, have but to vary the request, retaining the
introduction, in which the magic virtue consists. I cannot, however, resist
the conviction that it is most applicable to, and will succeed best with,
researches for objects of antiquity, scholarship, and art, and it should