The Book of All Human Knowledge
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| Thanks to CassiniVintageBooks |
Author: not known
Publisher: probably JW Wells Retail
Source book: May Contain Traces of Magic by Tom Holt
Unfortunately the early editions of The Book of All Human Knowledge (I’m not sure this actually qualifies as a book since it is magical but here we go anyway) told owners what they really needed to know, not what they wanted to know, or what they thought they needed to know. If you tried to override the system by thinking that wasn’t what you wanted to know; why doesn’t this stupid thing have an index - the book tended to freeze, its pages blank apart from a little black hourglass constantly revolving.
Chris, our hero (well, sort of) finds the book will only show him information about Ghandi. He thinks this is all about non violent resistance but in fact [spoiler alert], it’s about the Indian restaurant on the other side of the road. I think. I got confused.
However, he does manage to read about demons and pantacopts (a magical weapon of exceptional power) For professional users The Book does in fact have an index. But it may not work if you have a strong regional accent or a cold.
Also referred to in May Contain Traces of Magic is The Observer Book of British Demons. Apparently quite a lot of people involved in the government department for pest control (getting rid of demons) carry this book around and tick off the rarer demons they come across and then boast about them for days in the canteen. Just like bird watching really. You can easily buy Observer books on Etsy (other websites are available), but I haven’t come across the one about demons.
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| Thanks to Rummage4Retro |
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