Francis Sutton-Grove

Francis Sutton-Grove (1682-1765) was a theoretical magician, who foreshadowed Mr Norrell in his beliefs about magic. He wrote two books: Prescriptions and Descriptions and De Generibus Artium Magicarum Anglorum. De Generibus Artium Magicarum Anglorum was an attempt to define white and black magic, and the boundary between the two. Mr Norrell greatly admired this book; it was full of tables and charts, and also agreed with Mr Norrell's views on many subjects relevant to modern magic. His other work, Prescriptions and Descriptions, endeavored to "lay down rules for practical magic" [5] and was less well received; Mr Norrell, Sutton-Grove's greatest admirer, thought it was "abominably bad" [5], and Jonathan Strange hated the book so much that he tore up his copy and fed it to a tinker's donkey.