Some years ago, while researching an earlier novel, I came across a single mention of The Book of Lamps and Banners in the ancient Arabic magical text Picatrix. Immediately I decided to use it in a future story of my own. To my knowledge, no copy of the actual Book of Lamps and Banners has ever been found, and while I consulted various incunabula and existing works of magic, astrology, alchemy, and the like, the mysterious volume described in this novel is fictional and of my own devising. Any errors of fact or fancy are mine.