Necronomicon The Necronomicon or Al - Azif was a book or books known on Earth as a resource of arcane knowledge . The fictionalised " Necronomicon " of H . P . Lovecraft may have achieved greater recognition . History . " Conflicting information existed , indicating either a complicated history or that there were in fact three or more books referred to as the " Necronomicon " . " The Archon Necronomicon . The original " Necronomicon " , the " Book of Dead Names " , was older than Gallifrey and most other solar systems . It spoke of the time before time , of the Great Old One s that ruled the galaxy . An ancient race known as the Archons gave it to the Master so that he would carry out their plans . The Master gave the book to the Second Doctor ' s companion , Jamie McCrimmon , and he then gave it to the Doctor . When the Doctor touched the book , it activated and piloted the Doctor ' s TARDIS to the Archon homeworld . ( PROSE : " The Nameless City " ) The Eocene Necronomicon . This " Necronomicon " was written originally in Eocene , a language which was still at least partially understood by some human s in the early 20th century . It had , however , been written in fragmentary form or become that way by this time . Original illustrations accompanying the book were done by a man named Roerich , although their form actually matched that of identical stone carvings present on Earth , Veltroch , Exo Three , and many other planet s . These illustrations depicted the Great Old One s , which the text refers to as the Great Ones , walling their bodies into stone citadels . ( PROSE : " White Darkness " ) The Necronomicon of Abdul Alhazred . The version known as " Al - Azif " was written in Arabic around 730 AD in Damascus by Abdul Alhazred . Theodorus Philetus translated it into Greek in AD 950 but all copies were burned in AD 1050 . Olaus Wormius translated it into Latin and from this , another Greek translation was made . Pope Gregory IX suppressed both editions . The Necronomicon was later translated into Spanish . This was believed to be in the year AD 1600 from the original Arabic . ( PROSE : " The Banquo Legacy " ) Lovecraft ' s Necronomicon . According to the Eighth Doctor , the 20th century author H . P . Lovecraft wrote in his stories of a fictional tome of his own invention , the Necronomicon . By Compassion ' s time ( the 26th century ? ) , he estimated there were no less than seventy - nine different fake " Necronomicon " s in print due to Lovecraft ' s writings . Compassion , while acutely affected by a fictional generator which drew her into its narrative , authoritatively claimed that gothic writers often included excerpts of the Necronomicon in their novels , with little understanding of their context . This recklessness helped paint alien races like the Elder Thing s as monsters . ( PROSE : " The Taking of Planet 5 " ) Collections that held the Necronomicon . By 1898 , Professor Richard Harries had a diverse collection which included an Olaus Wormius Latin copy of the Necronomicon . ( PROSE : " The Banquo Legacy " ) Aleister Crowley ' s personal library once contained an unexpurgated copy in Eocene , before it passed into the hands of Howard Phillips . ( PROSE : " White Darkness " ) The Master ' s TARDIS library contained the Necronomicon alongside other reviled works . ( PROSE : " The Quantum Archangel " ) Possible owners . The book was suppressed by the Catholic Church ( PROSE : " The Banquo Legacy " ) and similar books ( like the Book of Eibon , the Eltdown Shards and the Pnakotic Manuscripts ) were held in the Library of St John the Beheaded . ( PROSE : " All - Consuming Fire " , PROSE : " Millennial Rites " ) Nkome , better known as Gilles Lemaitre , possessed a copy of " The Beginner ' s Guide to the Necronomicon " and a number of arcane books similar to the Necronomicon . ( PROSE : " White Darkness " ) The wording in a poem by Abraham Cowley was believed by Harries to have been influenced by a passage in the Necronomicon . ( PROSE : " The Banquo Legacy " ) The Braxiatel Collection was a point of comparison for the diversity of Harries ' collection . ( PROSE : " The Banquo Legacy " )