The series came out in 1984, towards the end of a lengthy period of American preoccupation with things spooky and fantastical, a cultural current that also put wind in the sails of Dungeons & Dragons. It runs 21 volumes, all impressively written and illustrated (with a combination of commissioned art and historical pieces, like that sweet Baba Yaga). I can not adequately express how much I love this series of books and encourage you to track them down (they’re usually cheap second hand, and a lot of libraries had them on shelves).

This is the first in the series, Wizards and Witches. It is beautifully illustrated but marred slightly for our purposes by lots of two-page spreads, which didn’t photograph well at all. Fun thing: the entire series is written in an in-universe style that assumes all this stuff is real (though in decline because of the rise of Christianity). So when it talks about Merlin (who was not a real person) and Michael Scot (who was), they both get treated with the same seriousness. It gives the whole thing a palpable sense of mystery and danger.

This book has one of my favorite paintings in the whole series – “The Black School” – which I was pleasantly surprised to learn was painted by John Jude Palencar. I’ve only reproduced half of it here (damn spreads), but even half the painting has those sweet evil vibes to spare.

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