The Ninth Gate

It's an impressive collection. You have some very rare editions here.

Are you sure you wanna sell them all?

They're no use to Father, not anymore.

Not since he's been this way.

His library was his whole world. Now it's just a painful memory.

Unbearably painful.

I understand.

Well, at a rough preliminary estimate, you have a collection here...

...worth around $600,000.

Six hundred thousand?

Yes, or thereabouts.

I've picked out one or two volumes that merit special attention.

This Persiles, for example, is important.

I'd hang on to that.

It will never depreciate. It's a good investment.

- Valuable? - Very valuable.

As for this Hypnerotomachia Di Poliphili by Colonna, Venice 1545...

...I'm sure I could find you a buyer.

But I wouldn't let the rest go for less than $500,000...

...under any circumstances.

It may take a month to place them.

In the meantime, I advise you to be patient.

- A month? - Yes, a month or two.

It depends on how much of a hurry you're in.

You see, more hurry, less money.

- Of course. - Well, that's my advice anyway.

I'm sure you wouldn't want to rush things...

...but please feel free to consult another expert.

If you have any questions, you know where to reach me.

Incidentally, this four-volume edition of Don Quixote is quite nice...

...but not particularly valuable.

Now, I could take it off your hands...

...right away.

How much were you thinking of?

I couldn't go more than 4000, 4200, tops.

Fine.

- You here? - Hello, Witkin.

You didn't waste much time.

There's a small fortune in there, help yourself.

You're a vulture, Corso. A vulture.

Who isn't, in our business?

You'd stoop to anything.

For a Quixote by Ybarra? You bet I would.

Unscrupulous. Thoroughly unscrupulous.

Happy hunting.

I just got off the phone with Witkin.

He's spitting blood.

Really? What's his problem?

He said you're a double-dealing, money-grubbing bastard.

Thought he had that deal sewed up.

He said you queered his pitch.

Well, he should've been quicker off the mark.

May I?

Sure. And he said your evaluation was way over the top.

Got those people coming out in a rash.

Now they're asking twice what those books are worth.

Let's face it, you screwed him.

- That's what it's called. - Yes.

He also said that you snatched the Don Qui-

Ybarra, Don Quixote, 1780.

All four volumes.

Son of a bitch.

Fantastic.

Fantastic. You are the best.

That client of yours, the Swiss, you think he'd still be interested in this?

I have Witkin on my ass. I told him I had no part of this operation.

Except 10 percent.

20 percent. The Swiss was my client.

- No deal. - Fifteen, for my children's sake.

- You don't have any children. - I'm still young, give me time.

Ten.

Hey, man, how you doing? How about a couple of bucks?

Not today. Not today.

Hey.

And earlier, in 1580, in De La Demonomanie Des Sorciers...

...by the Frenchman, Jean Bodin.

Bodin was probably the first to attempt to establish a system...

...if the term 'system' may be applied to the Middle Ages...

...for classifying the contemporary perceptions of evil.

In Bodin, we find one of the first definitions of the word 'witch. '

And I quote,

"A witch is a person who, though cognizant of the laws of God..."

"...endeavors to act through the medium of a pact with the devil."

To assist them in their work, many witches kept familiars.

That is to say, creatures such as cats or toads...

...in which supernatural spirits or demons were thought to reside.

For those of you ladies and gentlemen who wish to delve more deeply...

...into the controversial subject of witchcraft...

...a great deal of relevant information may be found in the following works,

Nicolas Remes' Demonolatria Libri...

...and Compendium Maleficarum by Francesco Maria Guazzo.

I see you were stimulated by my little talk, Mr. Corso.

- Did I snore? - Well, it's nice of you to ask.

No. Not that I noticed.

Shall we go?

Don't you sleep nights?

- Like a baby. - Strange.

I'd have bet a brace of Gutenberg Bibles...

...you spend half the night with your eyes peeled.

You're one of those lean, hungry, restless types...

...that put the wind up Julius Caesar.

Men who stab their friends in the back.

Not, I suspect, that you have many friends, do you, Mr. Corso?

Your kind seldom does.

That makes two of us.

You're right, of course.

Your friendships don't concern me in the least.

Our relations have always been strictly commercial and that's the way I like it.

The professional and the personal should be mutually exclusive.

Listen, I came here to do some business, not shoot the breeze.

If you wanna expound your personal philosophies...

...write another book.

- You don't like me, do you? - I don't have to like you.

You're a client and you pay well.

You're privileged, Mr. Corso.

Very few people ever set foot in here.

This is my private collection.

Some bibliophiles specialize in gothic novels...

...others in books of hours.

All my own rare editions have the same protagonist.

The devil.

- May I take a look? - Yes.

It's why I brought you here.

Beautiful, aren't they?

The soft sheen, the superb gilding.

Not to mention the centuries of wisdom they contain.

I know people who would kill for a collection like this.

The Ars Diavoli.

You'll never see as many books on the subject anywhere else in the world.

They're the rarest, the choicest editions in existence.

It's taken me a lifetime to assemble them.

Only the supreme masterpiece was missing.

Come.

The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows.

You're familiar with it? - Yes.

Venice, 1666.

The author and printer, Aristide Torchia, was burned by the holy Inquisition...

...together with all his works.

Only three copies survived.

One.

Catalog lists three copies surviving in private ownership,

- Fargas, Kessler and Telfer. - It's true.

You know your business, but you're mistaken nonetheless.

According to my own research, only one is authentic.

Well, three are known.

That's the trouble.

Where'd you get it?

I bought it from Telfer.

- Telfer? - Yes, he finally sold it to me.

The day before he killed himself.

It's good timing.

(BALKAN READS LATIN TEXT IN BOOK)

- Silence is golden. - Precisely.

Ever heard of the Delomelanicon?

I've heard of it, yes. It's a myth, isn't it?

A book reputed to have been written by Satan himself.

No myth.

That book existed.

Torchia actually acquired it.

The engravings you are now admiring were adapted...

...by Torchia from the Delomelanicon.

They form a kind of satanic riddle.

Correctly interpreted with the aid of the original text...

...and sufficient inside information...

...they're reputed to conjure up the prince of darkness in person.

You don't say.

Are you a religious man, Mr. Corso?

I mean, do you believe in the supernatural?

I believe in my percentage.

Don't you get dizzy standing there?

What is it that you want from me, Balkan?

I want you to go to Europe and investigate.

The other two copies are in Portugal and France.

I want you to find some way of comparing them with mine.

Every page, every engraving, the binding, everything.

I'm convinced only one is authentic. I wanna know which.

That could be an expensive trip.

That's to get you started.

Spend what you need.

What if I find that your copy's a forgery?

It's quite possible.

Really?

It doesn't appear to be.

- Even the paper sounds kosher. - Even so.

- There's something wrong. - You mean the devil won't show up?

If all three copies turn out to be bogus or incomplete your work will be done.

If, on the other hand, one of them turns out to be genuine...

...I'll finance you further.

I want you to get it for me, at all costs, never mind how.

- "Never mind how" sounds illegal. - Wouldn't be the first time...

...you've done something illegal.

- Not that illegal. - Hence the size of the check.

Do a good job, I'll double it.

Gotta be something wrong with it if you're letting it out of your hands.

I have the utmost faith in you, Mr. Corso.

Nothing more reliable than a man whose loyalty can be bought for hard cash.

Good morning, I'm Dean Corso.

I'm terribly sorry to disturb you at a time like this.

It would be very helpful, ma'am, if you could tell me what you know...

...about this book.