Rational Magic: Hypothesizing the Occult in Early Modern England with Newberry MS 5017, The Book of Magical Charms

The handwriting within MS 5017 of the Newberry Library in Chicago, The Book of Magical Charms, was recently identified as belonging to Robert Ashley, a London lawyer who lived from 1565-1641. Full of occult medical recipes, ritual magic, and necromancy, The Book of Magical Charms was previously believed to have been written by and for practicing magicians or witches. However, after analyzing the purpose of this manuscript within the context of Ashley's private life and the broader world of late Elizabethan and early Stuart England, I argue that Newberry MS 5017 was instead a sort of field book where Ashley was able to write down and systematically test magical charms. Faced with the skepticism of Reginald Scot and the occult belief of the English monarchy, Ashley employed the new scientific method of Francis Bacon to figure out who to believe for himself. I have termed this experimental practice rational magic and propose that this phenomenon offers a fresh way to understand the relationship between science and magic as more being more fluid and dynamic rather than being merely progressively necessary.