The Complete Clavis Steganographia of Johannes Trithemius: An English Translation and Comparative Commentary - Hardcover

A new black and white version of this translation without any artwork to lower cost.

In 1982 an English translation of Johannes Trithemius's Steganographia was published for the public by Adam McLean. The issue with McLean's translation was that the entirety of Book 2 was missing which made it "incomplete". Although Book 2 is mostly an earlier version of part of the Lesser Key of Solomon, or Lemegeton, the reality was that the Steganographia had never been translated in "full".

This translation is not attempting to counter any current translations that have come in recent years. Instead, this translation's purpose is to show where many beliefs that are practiced in church and religious circles are really coming from. While many have attempted to argue that these practices are biblical, this text shows where the true source of these beliefs come from.

Interestingly, Stephen Skinner and Daniel Clarke have also claimed to be the first to translate Steganographia into English. The problem is that their version comes from a French document from 1780 which included material that Trithemius could not have written. Skinner and Clarke do show that they have their doubts about the additional material, but they still choose to believe that Trithemius wrote that additional text even though there is no external evidence by texts written by Trithemius that he ever did. Therefore, that evidence does make this the first full translation of the Latin text, and not the later French text by Skinner and Clarke.

This book starts with an Introduction showing what the Bible really says about Necromancy, or "goetia". A full explanation is given and the questions that are raised about these practices are answered. Also, rebukes that will come up about certain practices in church and religious groups will be considered and seen whether the practices are legitimate.

This translation does show that there is an interesting route of religious practice that many have not taken into consideration. Once the entirety of this text is considered then people within these churches and groups can ask whether the issue under consideration should be taken seriously.