In a book curse-y mood...

Book curses, for those who do not know. are wonderfully damning bits of prose promising all sorts of bad outcomes for those who steal/damage/malign the subject book. I am in a foul mood this morning and am in a churlish mood. I offer the following for fun:

For him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not, this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy, and let there be no surcease to this agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails, and when he last goeth to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him forever" (from a San Pedro, Barcelona monastery library).

or

If anyone take away this book,
Let him die the death;
Let him be fried in a pan;
Let the falling sickness and fever seize him;
Let him be broken on the wheel, and hanged.
Amen."

or

God rot the crook who steals this book.

or

This book belongs to none but me
For there's my name inside to see.
To steal this book, if you should try,
It's by the throat that you'll hang high
And ravens then will gather 'bout
To find your eyes and pull them out.
And when you're screaming
'oh, oh, oh!'
Remember, you deserved this woe.

or

To him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not,
this book from its owner,
let it change into a Serpent in his hand and rend him ...
Let bookworms gnaw his entrails.

or

Reader, turn the leaves gently,
wash your hands,
and if you must hold the book,
cover it with your tunic.

or

May the sword of anathema slay
If anyone steals this book away.

not to be confused with

If anyone steal it, let him be anathema!
Whoever finds fault with it, let him be accursed.
Amen.

or

Whoever steals this book
Will hang on a gallows in Paris,
And, if he isn't hung, he'll drown.
And, if he doesn't drown, he'll roast,
And, if he doesn't roast, a worse end will befall him.

or

By him who bought me for his own,
I'm lent for reading leaf by leaf;
If honest, you'll return the loan,
If you retain me, you're a thief.
Neither blemish this book, nor the leaves double down,
Nor lend it to each idle friend in town;
Return it when read, or, if lost, please supply
Another as good to the mind and the eye.

And finally, and more broadly, some thoughts from Christopher Morley:

I give hearty and humble thanks for the safe return of this book, which having endured the perils of my friend’s bookcase and the bookcases of my friend’s friends, now returns to me in reasonable good condition. I give hearty and humble thanks that my friend did not see fit to give this book to his infant for a plaything, nor use it as an ash tray for his burning cigar, nor as a teething-ring for his mastiff. When I loaned this book, I deemed it as lost; I was resigned to the business of the long parting; I never thought to look upon its pages again. But now that my book has come back to me, I rejoice and am exceedingly glad! Bring hither the fatted morocco and let us rebind the volume and set it on the shelf of honor, for this my book was lent and is returned again. Presently, therefore, I may return some of the books I myself have borrowed.