Grimoire Maudit

Stoo

Well-known member
DIrishB has started scanning his pages and I've figured out the first 10 already so, like he wrote in an e-mail:
DIrishB said:
Certainly this is the Golden Age of translated and obscure Indy tales.
I want to tip my hat to DIrish, Icybro, BrodyIsDead and Rob Dangerous for all their contributions in providing these rare tales!:hat: (y)

Before this one begins, I'm looking for some opinions on the title. On the web, the common translation for "IJ et le Grimoire Maudit" seems to be "IJ and the Cursed Book of Magic" but (however literal) it's kind of stilted and clunky. I was wondering if it's worth it to bother coming up with something better or just leaving the title as is. The word "grimoire" is also used extensively in the story's text so it would be preferable to sort this out now.

Grimoire = Book of Magic / Magic Book / Magician's Book / Black Book
It appears that "grimoire" is a widely-used term in English, according to the various web articles that I've read. Should it remain this way in the title & in the rest of the story?:confused:

Maudit: The also means "Damned" and I think it sounds better but will probably leave it as "Cursed" so as not to complicate things.

Indiana Jones and the Cursed Book of Magic
Indiana Jones and the Cursed Magic Book
Indiana Jones and the Cursed Grimoire
Indiana Jones and the Damned Book of Magic
Indiana Jones and that Damned Black Book!:eek:
Indiana Jones and the Damned Grimoire
etc.

Which would you choose?

What's funny is that, chronolgically, this is Indy's 2nd of 3(!) adventures dealing with the Philosopher's Stone! All 3 stories were published within a few months of each other in 1995. How crazy is that?
 

|ZiR|

New member
The word grimoire is certainly familiar enough to most English readers. So much so that I can't imagine why you should have to change it.

Titles are hard, man. Even most authors have trouble coming up with them, and here you are trying to translate one into working English. I'd say you should keep "grimoire" somewhere in the title. It's very macguffin-esque.

Indiana Jones and the Black Grimoire?
Indiana Jones and the Maledicted Grimoire?
Indiana Jones and the Bedamnned Grimoire?
Indiana Jones and the Scourged Grimoire?
Indiana Jones and the Black Bible?

...haha, I dunno. I'm pretty crap at this. Hopefully someone proper will pop along and give their advice.

What does the grimoire actually do? Maybe you could take a lead from that. Like, let's say it raises the dead, right. Then it could be Indiana Jones and the Black Book of the Dead. Or if it was written by a notorious person, then it could be Indiana Jones and The Cursed Grimoire of ______.

Stoo said:
What's funny is that, chronolgically, this is Indy's 2nd of 3(!) adventures dealing with the Philosopher's Stone! All 3 stories were published within a few months of each other in 1995. How crazy is that?

Weeeeird.
 

Crack that whip

New member
Stoo said:
What's funny is that, chronolgically, this is Indy's 2nd of 3(!) adventures dealing with the Philosopher's Stone! All 3 stories were published within a few months of each other in 1995. How crazy is that?

I'd say it's almost but not quite as remarkable as the catalog of Indy adventures involving crystal skulls... except that those were all done (and in at least one notable case, not done :p ) over many many years. Three unrelated Philosopher's Stone Indy tales published within a few months of one another? Far out...
 

Stoo

Well-known member
|ZiR| said:
The word grimoire is certainly familiar enough to most English readers. So much so that I can't imagine why you should have to change it.

I'd say you should keep "grimoire" somewhere in the title. It's very macguffin-esque.
Noted and logged.

|ZiR| said:
Titles are hard, man. Even most authors have trouble coming up with them, and here you are trying to translate one into working English.
I used to laugh my head off at the lame, French translations for movies & TV shows. Some of my faves are:
"Lisence to Kill" = "To Kill, Not To Play" (Tuer, Ne Pas Jouer)
"The Dukes of Hazzard" = "Sheriff, Make Me Scared!" (Sheriff, Fais-Moi Peur!):D

|ZiR| said:
What does the grimoire actually do? Maybe you could take a lead from that. Like, let's say it raises the dead, right. Then it could be Indiana Jones and the Black Book of the Dead. Or if it was written by a notorious person, then it could be Indiana Jones and The Cursed Grimoire of ______.
It's a book of alchemy (and supposedly a copy of the Book of Abraham) that once belonged to this guy, Nicolas Flamel.

Crack that whip said:
I'd say it's almost but not quite as remarkable as the catalog of Indy adventures involving crystal skulls... except that those were all done (and in at least one notable case, not done ) over many many years. Three unrelated Philosopher's Stone Indy tales published within a few months of one another? Far out...
Yeah, 3 stories about the Philosopher's Stone in 1 year:
1933 - IJ and the Philosophers' Stone (1995 May)
1936 - IJ et le Grimoire Maudit (1995)
1947 - IJ and the Iron Phoenix (1994-95)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Double post!:eek:

The dates for "Grimoire Maudit" are: printed in July '95 and distributed in September '95.

James said:
If it wasn't an actual book, "Indiana Jones and the Book of the Damned" would be ideal.
Yes, I'm all for something like that because (in my experience) "maudit" means "damned".
 
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James

Well-known member
Indiana Jones and the Grimoire's Spell
Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Alchemists
Indiana Jones and the Tome of the Damned
Indiana Jones and the Magick of the Accursed
Indiana Jones and the Grimoire of Darkness

PS. Wouldn't you love to see that list of 50+ titles that was prepared for Indy 4? :D
 

Icybro

Member
I'll cast my vote for Indiana Jones and the Book of the Damned. There's not enough cursing in Indiana Jones titles! :)
...and I'm usually the first to condemn dumbing down language for an American audience (e.g. we could have handled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), but I'll admit I was unfamiliar with the term "grimoire."
 

Plaristes

New member
I think "grimoire" is a fairly common term. Aren't witches' spell books often called grimoires? I'd definitely suggest not translating it, at least in the text of the story.
 

DIrishB

New member
Personally, I like "Indiana Jones and the Cursed Book of Magic". Sure, its clunky and long, but so are just about every Indy title. And it definitely screams "pulp fiction" from the title alone. I'd choose that. After all, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is a rather long and drawn out title, maybe even overly descriptive, but thats sort of the point...just like "Cursed Book of Magic" (even without the IJ attachment, RotLA is still a long title).
 

Stoo

Well-known member
I...don't...know...what...to...do...

Personally, I like "Indiana Jones and the Cursed Book of Magic". Sure, its clunky and long, but so are just about every Indy title. And it definitely screams "pulp fiction" from the title alone. I'd choose that.
Considering you're the one supplying the pages, I guess we'll just leave it as is. You're right, DB. I mean, how much crazier is it than "Indiana Jones and the Ape Slaves of Howling Island"?:p Plus, it will remain consistent with any related web info. Thanks for everyone's input, though. I really appreciate it! Makes it more of a community effort. As suggested, "grimoire" will remain in the actual text.

Too bad, 'cause I really wanted "Indiana Jones and that Damned, Little Black Book"!:p

Crack that whip said:
Three unrelated Philosopher's Stone Indy tales published within a few months of one another? Far out...
I'll have to thumb through my Marvels and see if he goes after it in one of those, too!
 

Plaristes

New member
Indiana Jones and the Ape Slaves of Howling Island is my all-time favorite Indy title. I couldn't come up with a crazier title if I tried. :p
 

DIrishB

New member
Stoo said:
I...don't...know...what...to...do...

Considering you're the one supplying the pages, I guess we'll just leave it as is. You're right, DB. I mean, how much crazier is it than "Indiana Jones and the Ape Slaves of Howling Island"?:p Plus, it will remain consistent with any related web info. Thanks for everyone's input, though. I really appreciate it! Makes it more of a community effort. As suggested, "grimoire" will remain in the actual text.

Good point concerning the title remaining consistent with other information found on the web.

Too bad, 'cause I really wanted "Indiana Jones and that Damned, Little Black Book"!:p

Sounds like a novel written by Marion.
 

m-3po

New member
Any news on this? Its the only one ive not managed to physically get hold of yet and im eagerly awaiting reading the scans.
 

DIrishB

New member
Speaking of which, Stoo, do you need more pages, or were you able to work with the PDF file of the entire book that Rob posted? Let me know...I may be lazy and slow, but I hate to stand in the way of fellow Indy fans getting to read this. So if you need more pages, just let me know.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Hey DB, do you mean the .PDFs that Rob linked to on page 5 of the Cité de la Foudre thread? There are no "Grimoire" scans there so if he posted them somewhere else, I missed it. Anyway, yes, I still need more pages (14 and up). So far, the cover & frontispiece are done and the handwritten blurb is nearing completion. They'll be posted soon. I received your 1st batch of americanizations and will begin changing the panels in due time.

"Goldeneye" was on TV last night and it gave me a chuckle because the Bond-girl character's name was Natalya Simonova (which bears a resemblence to Indy's Bagheera comics-cohort, Natasha Smirnova).:)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
^Ha ha! Oops!:eek: Yes, I meant Marya. (My sister's name is Natasha and had just been talking to her on the phone.)

Anyway, as some might know, on the cover there's a stone table filled with engraved, lettering. The text is hard to decipher (and looks like a medival-type French) so I won't altering that part (it would take forever) but will try to provide a written translation as best as I can.
 

DIrishB

New member
Stoo said:
Hey DB, do you mean the .PDFs that Rob linked to on page 5 of the Cité de la Foudre thread? There are no "Grimoire" scans there so if he posted them somewhere else, I missed it.

Whoops, you're right. Sorry, my brain farted.

Anyway, yes, I still need more pages (14 and up). So far, the cover & frontispiece are done and the handwritten blurb is nearing completion. They'll be posted soon. I received your 1st batch of americanizations and will begin changing the panels in due time.

Cool. Let me know when you're getting close to finishing with those first 14 pages and I'll send over another batch of 14 or 15 pages.

"Goldeneye" was on TV last night and it gave me a chuckle because the Bond-girl character's name was Natalya Simonova (which bears a resemblence to Indy's Bagheera comics-cohort, Natasha Smirnova).:)

If only Henry Jones had appeared in one of these French comics... ;)



Icybro said:
You mean Marya Smirnova, right? Or did they change her name in Grimoire Maudit?

Stoo said:
^Ha ha! Oops!:eek: Yes, I meant Marya. (My sister's name is Natasha and had just been talking to her on the phone.)

I'm glad I'm not the only one. ;)

Anyway, as some might know, on the cover there's a stone table filled with engraved, lettering. The text is hard to decipher (and looks like a medival-type French) so I won't altering that part (it would take forever) but will try to provide a written translation as best as I can.

Cool!
 
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