Damn Those Digits

As a one person band I do everything from designing, layout, editing, etc;  all except writing. I am currently experiencing rather severe RSI so am unable to get the old digits working long enough to set things up on my InDesign program, hence there will be no new books from RedThread for a little while. Hopefully the hands will improve soon or I may just focus on books with no pictures as doing all the work on the pics seems to give me the most problems. Watch this space.

New Poetry CD for The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic by Circle of Spears Productions

Produced in conjunction with the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall, the CD Poems of Witchcraft and Magic features a collection of readings of poems and prose on the themes of Witchcraft and Magic, all set to some haunting and beautiful music tracks.

50% of the money from sales of this item are donated directly to the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic.

Tracklist:1. I Saw Three Witches -Walter de la Mare
2. The Witch Bride - William Allingham
3. A Midsummer Night's Dream Extracts -William Shakespeare
4. Tam O'Shanter- Robert Burns
5. La Belle Dame Sans Merci - John Keats
6. The Witch's Child - Edith Matilda Thomas
7. The Witch's Daughter - John Greenleaf Whittier
8. Macbeth Extract - William Shakespeare
9. Meg Merrilees - John Keats
​10. The Witch - Walter de la Mare

Click below to go to buy directly from the site
Circle of Spears

Also available from The Museum of Witchcraft & Magic

RIP Mike Howard

It is with great sadness that I have just learnt of the death of the author of The Witches' Herbal. Mike Howard died after a short illness, in the company of his friends and family. He was editor of the well-respected esoteric journal The Cauldron and author of over 30 books. He and his work will be greatly missed. 

RIP Mike.

Edward Lovett Looking Relaxed

Edward Lovett's grandson, Bill Lovett, kindly supplied this photograph of his grandfather for the book Magic In Modern London 1925 with Folklore & Legends of the Surrey Hills and the Sussex Downs & Forests 1928. He looks very dapper as he's transported along the waterway. 

Tattooing a Girl's Arm

I am keen to share Lovett's snippets so am occasionally putting sample pages from his book on this blog. This one shows how, even over the span of a century, things don't really change. Thank heavens for creative tattooists.

Paypal Buttons Not Working

Thanks to one of my customers who has pointed out the Paypal buttons on my site are not working at the moment. I think a recent upgrade to the site has caused the problem. I'm hoping to get my webmeister on the case shortly so if, in the meantime, you would like to order either Magic in Modern London... or The Witches' Herbal please email me at redthreadbooks@aol.co.uk and I will send a Paypal invoice.

Apologies for this problem but I hope to have it sorted soon.

Stumble on a FumsUp

I was delighted to find this example of a bisque FumsUp doll in a charity shop in Wadebridge last week. Thanks to Donna Hircock for giving e the "HeadUp" about the "FumsUp"....see what I did there....It still has the original label which is rather nice.

It now stands on my dresser next to my piskie letter holder. I hope Edward Lovett would be proud.

Charmed life: The solace of objects | Felicity Powell

Look Back on A Charmed Life

In October 2011 The Wellcome Trust and artist Felicity Powell collaborated on a stunning 5 month show of Edward Lovett's collected amulets (which are usually housed at The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford). These charms and the personal stories connected to them inspired Felicity's art and the show was truly amazing.

Sadly Felicity died earlier this year. We never met but spoke on the phone as she had agreed to speak on her work at one of the Museum of Witchcraft's Day of Talks which I was organising at the time. Unfortunately she became too ill to attend but she was extremely enthusiastic about Lovett's work and was obviously greatly inspired by it.

The Wellcome Collection show of both the charms and Felicity's work can still be viewed online by clicking Charmed Life - The Solace of Objects.

For The Guardian's obituary to Felicity Powell click here. 

Online Lovett Collection at Cuming Museum

If you'd have visited London's Cuming Museum before March 2013 you'd have been able to see a fantastic collection of Edward Lovett's charms in the flesh (so to speak). 

Unfortunately a fire swept through the museum and it is currently being rebuilt in what will surely be a fabulous new premises. 

In the meantime you can access Lovett's charms through their website.  Click this link to take you directly to the Lovett pages or click here to learn more about the history of the Cuming Museum itself.

MWM review of Magic In Modern London 1925...

To read a Museum of Witchcraft and Magic review of Magic In Modern London 1925... please click here .

New Outlets for RedThreadBooks Titles

Black Cat Charm

I am happy to announce that Treadwells Bookstore in London and Sacred Earth in Ipswich are now stocking The Witches' Herbal by Mike Howard and Magic In Modern London 1925... by Edward Lovett. 

Mike's Herbal is on its third reprint and, as with all of Mike's books, it is well researched and well written. It contains sections on the history of herbalism, an illustrated herbal, and a section on the Celtic tree Alphabet. 

Edward Lovett's book includes his pamphlet Folklore & legends of the Surrey Hills and of the Sussex Downs & Forests 1928 and is illustrated with charms from the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall.

Domino Charm

To read more about some of Mike Howard's work follow this link to reviews of some of his other works. 

Wholesale Available

Now that the RedThreadBooks team is back from a break, the titles The Witches' Herbal  by Mike Howard, and Magic In Modern London 1925... by folklorist Edward Lovett are available for wholesale.

For any wholesale queries please contact Kerriann at redthreadbooks@aol.com. 

Witches' Herbal A Best Seller

The Museum of Witchcraft team have just informed me that The Witches' Herbal is the best selling title in their bookshop. The number of books sold at the MOW has increased greatly since the new managers have taken over and they are selling really well so it's great to know that Mike Howard's book is at the top of the list.

The new smaller A5 format is proving popular as well. 'It's a really great size to take with you on walks to help identify plants'. 

The Witches' Herbal is currently available at The Museum of Witchcraft shop and online at RedThreadBooks and will soon be available at other stores. I will let you know where and when. 

The Witches' Herbal Goes Groovy

Well the new A5 version of Mike Howard's The Witches' Herbal arrived today and doesn't it look cute. The new size fits nicely in a handbag or can be carried gently and lovingly in the hand as you while away the hours in nature, studying specific plants or reading about the lore of trees.

Copies of the book are currently available from Red Thread Books or pick one up from The Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall when you're down our way.

Magic in Modern London - A Colonial Soldier's Story - Page for the Day

Here is the second of my 'Page of the Day' excerpts from Magic In Modern London 1925 with Folklore & Legends of the Surrey Hills and of the Sussex Downs & Forests 1928.

Copies of Edward Lovett's book can be purchased online from the publisher Red Thread Books or at The Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle Cornwall.

The Witches' Herbal - New Print Run

Due to the popularity of Mike Howard's book I am doing a third print run. This time the book will be in an A5 format but otherwise unchanged. I will let you know when they newly printed books are in stock.

Magic In Modern London - Page of the Day - The Lucky Card

Edward Lovett's book Magic In Modern London 1925 contains a host of fascinating anecdotes he collected in the early part of the 20th Century, mainly between the wars. I will put a page from the book up on the blog now and then so you can get a flavour of the interesting folk tales, folk healing and superstitions that were prevalent in the UK during this time. This piece shows the dangers of poo pooing the nurse's instructions.

Magic In Modern London 1925 can be purchased online by clicking here .

Return of the Natives

The Museum of Witchcraft has ably been holding the fort for me while I've been travelling for the past 6 months but I am now back and will, once again, be selling copies of Red Thread Books on the site. Magic In Modern London by Edward Lovett is available now by clicking this link -  Magic In Modern London .

The Witches' herbal is doing extremely well and I will be reprinting it in an A5 format within the next couple of weeks. the current version is available on the Museum of Witchcraft site. Follow this link to access their site - Museum of Witchcraft Shop .

I will be showing pages of Magic in Moder London in this blog in the next few days.