The Engravings of 
The Club Dumas and
The Ninth Gate
 
© 09/12/03; Rev. 01/16/07

 
 
 It was... too much like some forbidden woodcut in a tale of terror.
-H.P. Lovecraft, 'The Colour Out of Space,' 1927

 
 Click on the images below for a larger version and more information.
(The Latin-English translations are those used in the novel and movie and may not be literal)
'The Club Dumas' Frontis'The Ninth Gate' Frontis
      Doing book research is one of my passions.  There is a thrill to cracking open a musty tome long out of print and discovering things that have been forgotten.  Although research is generally a harmless, solitary activity, what would happen if you were to stumble across a book that contained dark secrets- a book that people were willing to kill for? 
'The Club Dumas' One'The Ninth Gate' One'The Club Dumas' Two'The Ninth Gate' Two
     This is the premise behind Arturo Perez Reverte's novel The Club Dumas (originally published in Spanish as El Club Dumas) and its film adaptation The Ninth Gate.  The protagonist in the story is a modern-day "book detective" named Corso, a scholarly P.I. who gets paid to research rare books.  Corso gets in over his head, however, when he agrees to study the last three surviving copies of a 17th century occult work that allegedly has the power to summon the Devil.
'The Club Dumas' Three'The Ninth Gate' Three'The Club Dumas' Four'The Ninth Gate' Four
      The book Corso sets out to authenticate is titled Novem Portis de Umbrarum Regni- "Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows" (or "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows" as the film has it).  This book is essentially a step-by-step guide to summoning Satan, and buried within the text are ten engravings - a printer's mark and nine illustrations representing each of the "doors" that need to be opened along the way.
'The Club Dumas' Five'The Ninth Gate' Five'The Club Dumas' Six'The Ninth Gate' Six
      In reality the woodcut engravings in the novel were designed by the Spanish artist Francisco Sole.  The engravings have a tarot-like quality and are rich in symbolism- and "variations."
'The Club Dumas' Seven'The Ninth Gate' Seven'The Club Dumas' Eight'The Ninth Gate' Eight
      Although the idea of books containing dark secrets is nothing new (a literary device perfected decades ago by H.P. Lovecraft), Francisco Sole's engravings constitute a unique graphic representation of an occult mystery. These engravings, along with Arturo Perez Reverte's tale, present a troubling meditation on the nature of knowledge.  If knowledge is power and power corrupts- if eating of the tree of knowledge was the original sin- then can enlightenment come only at the price of damnation?
'The Club Dumas' Nine'The Ninth Gate' Nine
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      NOTE:  The Club Dumas is a novel, a work of FICTION.  The Novem Portis de Umbrarum Regni referenced in the novel is a PLOT DEVICE invented by Arturo Perez Reverte.  THERE IS NO REAL BOOK BY THIS NAME.  If you want to learn more about real occult/mystrical/magical/tarot books check out http://www.sacred-texts.com/ .  PLEASE do not e-mail me asking if the Novem Portis or Delomelanicon are real books and where you can find a copy.  I don't know, I don't care. 

      2/9/06:  It has been brought to my attention that an occult book called the Delomelanicon has recently surfaced.  It is asserted that this work was written by the 16th-century Italian free-thinker Giordano Bruno.  If you want to believe it, go ahead, just don't e-mail me about it.