Gerald Gardner's Library

Book Directory - Sorted Alphabetically by Author:
A-C	D-G	H-L	M-R	S-Z	No Author

To know a person's library is to know something special about a person, and in this area of the Red Garters website we have a list of the books found in Gerald Gardner's Library. As we all know, Dr. Gardner was probably the pivotal figure of modern witchcraft, and this list will give readers a chance to find out what books may have influenced his life and teachings.

PLEASE NOTE: THE NWC DOES NOT OWN GARDNER'S LIBRARY. THIS IS ONLY A LISTING OF WHAT BOOKS WERE PART OF HIS ESTATE.

Like most things in life, the list compiled here is not problem-free. This is an inventory of the materials that the Wiccan Church of Canada (WCC) purchased from Ripley's International, who had previously purchased them from Gardner's heirs, Campbell and Monique Wilson. It may be missing materials because:

Gardner may have given them to others before he died or in his will.
Apparently Ripley's separated a small number of pieces (including Gardner's famous O.T.O. charter) from the rest and did not include them in the sale to WCC.

Certainly, there is at least one surprising omission: none of Margaret Murray's books (such as The Witch-cult in Western Europe) appear in the list. Since Gardner was a friend of Murray's and a supporter of her theory of the origins of European Witchcraft, one would expected Gardner to have acquired her books. Perhaps these (likely signed first editions, given the quality of many of Gardner's other books) were bequested to others.

Another problem with the list, which the reader will quickly discover, is that the Wilsons apparently added to the collection after Gardner's death. This is the only reasonable explanation for books such as Doreen Valiente's An ABC of Witchcraft Past & Present, which was not published until nine years after Gardner's death.

On top of this some of the citations are incomplete or possibly misspelled.

Despite these caveats, I hope that some of the other history-minded Wiccans out there will find this list as exciting as I have.

Oakseer
Revised December 2004