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Sam is a level 8 sorcerer that takes 1 level of wizard for his 9th level. He now has a wizard spellbook and all that. Walter the level 9 wizard has a thought. Walter hands Sam his own spellbook for a day.

Can Sam prepare the 5th level wizard spells in Walter's book? He has the spell slots and the book has the spells.

Not in the scope of the question: Number of spells preparable. Sam is a level 1 wizard with Int 14 - so, three spells. Walter is a curious wizard who is willing allowing this to happen. Sam can read the language in Walter's spell book.

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You determine what spells you know and can prepare for each class individually, as if you were a single-classed member of that class. (PHB 164)

So no, to prepare a 5th level spell from your spellbook, you have to be a 9th level wizard.

Also, he cannot even write the spell in his book. From the Errata v1.0 to the PHB:

The spells cop­ied into a spellbook must be of a spell level the wizard can prepare.

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    \$\begingroup\$ No-one said anything about coping. Sam is preparing it straight from Walters book. \$\endgroup\$
    – Overthinks
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 14:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Overthinks You can only prepare from your own book. \$\endgroup\$
    – Szega
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 14:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ Hypothetically, let's say that Sam kills Walter in his frustration and takes his book for himself. This let's us get back to the core issue. Sam cannot prepare Wizard spells that a single class Wizard of that same level couldn't prepare. With more Sorcerer levels, his power grows (higher level spell slots), but not his Wizard knowledge. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nick Brown
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 19:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ Now I'm having second thoughts about my previous comment. I think that you might have to copy any spells that you find (even from other spellbooks) into your personal spellbook if Szega's comment is correct, which I think it is without an errata or sage tweet. The PHB does use your spellbook throughout the Wizard class writeup. So this might just be a second reason that the Sorcerer can't cast high-level Wizard spells with just a dip. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nick Brown
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 19:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ @NickBrown see Using an acquired spellbook \$\endgroup\$
    – Szega
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 19:33

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