Jacques Albin Simon Collin de Plancy (28 January 1793 in

Plancy-l'Abbaye Plancy-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Aube department The following is a list of the 431 communes of the Aube department of France France, official ...

– 1881 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a French occultist, demonologist and writer. He published several works on

occultism The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...

and

demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be n ...

Biography

He was born Jacques Albin Simon Collin on 28 (in some sources 30) January 1793 in Plancy (presently Plancy-l'Abbaye), the son of Edme-Aubin Collin and Marie-Anne Danton, the sister of Georges-Jacques Danton who was executed the year after Jacques was born. He later added the aristocratic ''de Plancy'' himself – an addition which later caused accusations against his son in his career as a diplomat. He was a

free-thinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

influenced by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

. He worked as a printer and publisher in Plancy-l'Abbaye and

. Between 1830 and 1837, he resided in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, and then in the Netherlands, before he returned to France after having converted to the Catholic religion. Collin de Plancy followed the tradition of many previous demonologists of cataloguing demons by name and title of nobility, as it happened with

grimoire A grimoire () (also known as a book of spells, magic book, or a spellbook) is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms, and divin ...

s like ''

Pseudomonarchia Daemonum The ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' () first appears as an appendix to ''De praestigiis daemonum'' (1577) by Johann Weyer.Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (Liber officiorum spirituum); Johann Weyer, ed. Joseph Peterson; 2000. Available online aEsoteric Arc ...

'' and ''

The Lesser Key of Solomon ''The Lesser Key of Solomon'', also known by its Latin title ''Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis'' or simply the ''Lemegeton'', is an anonymously authored grimoire on Goetia, sorcery, mysticism and Magic (supernatural), magic. It was compiled in th ...

''. In 1818, his best known work, ''

Dictionnaire Infernal The ''Dictionnaire Infernal'' () is a book on demonology, describing demons organised in hierarchies. It was written by Jacques Collin de Plancy and first published in 1818. There were several editions of the book; perhaps the most famous is th ...

'', was published. In 1863, some images were added that made it famous: imaginative drawings concerning the appearance of certain demons. In 1822, it was advertised as: :"Anecdotes of the nineteenth new century or historiettes, recent anecdotes, features and words little known, singular adventures, various quotations, bringings together and curious parts, to be used for the history of customs and the spirit of the century when we live compared with the last centuries." It is considered a major work documenting beings, characters, books, deeds and causes which pertain to the manifestations and magic of trafficking with Hell; divinations, occult sciences, grimoires, marvels, errors, prejudices, traditions, folktales, the various superstitions, and generally all manner of marvellous, surprising, mysterious, and supernatural beliefs. By the end of 1830, he ostensibly became an enthusiastic Catholic, much to the confusion of his former admirers and detractors. In 1846, he published a two-volume work entitled ''Dictionnaire Sciences Occultes et des Idées superstitieuses'', another listing of demons. The set cost 16 francs. Jacques Collin de Plancy was the father of Victor Collin de Plancy (1853–1924), who, for nearly a decade, starting in 1884, was French Minister to

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and whose collected art works and books became part of the core of the Korean collections of the French Bibliothèque Nationale and the

Musée Guimet The Guimet Museum (full name in ; ''MNAAG''; ) is a Parisian art museum with one of the largest collections of Asian art outside of Asia that includes items from Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Tibet, India, and Nepal, among other countries. Foun ...

in Paris.François Roudaut: ''Le Fonds Collin de Plancy à la Bibliothèque de Troyes''. Slatkine, 1994; Max Milner: ''Romantisme'', 1995 (persee.fr): "Le fonds Collin de Plancy est constitué par les livres et documents donnés en 1923 à la Bibliothèque municipale de Troyes, en exécution du legs de Victor Collin de Plancy, orientaliste et diplomate, fils du polygraphe Jacques Collin de Plancy, qui est surtout connu comme…"

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External links

Dictionnaire infernal: ou Répertoire universel des êtres, des personnages, 1853
at Google Books, PDF download available
Réalité de la magie et des apparitions: ou, Contre-poison du Dictionnaire, 1819
at Google Books, PDF download available
Dictionnaire infernal, ou, Recherches et anecdotes, sur les démons, les, 1818
at Google Books, PDF download available
Dictionnaire infernal, ou Recherches et anecdotes sur les démons, 1844
at Google Books, PDF download available
Dictionnaire des sciences occultes: ou, Répertoire universel des êtres, des, 1848
at Google Books, PDF download available * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collin De Plancy, Jacques 1793 births 1881 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism French occultists 19th-century French Jesuits 19th-century occultists Demonologists

Biography

Bibliography

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Further reading

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