SilverfireSage
Explorer
I feel that spells should stay out of the PHB. I never liked the way AD&D edition did it because spells became too common knowledge. I have always felt that spells should be handled by the DM because he/she can allow or no allow certain spells if that is how hie/her campaign is going to go. Further if the basic unit of monster supernatural ability is the spell (as it is in 3.0, 3.5, and 5e), putting all the spells into the PHB enforces the idea that monsters are very seldom mysterious.
Magic items should be alongside spells, wherever and whatever they are. In 1e Spells were (other than a very few) treasure and so should have been treated like magic items. In 4e magic items were abilites and so treated consistently like spells. In Pathfinder there is no DMG. In 3.X you could make magic items freely but they were in the DMG. In 1e and 2e you had to discover most of your spells but they were in the PHB. You want common magic items and common spells in the PHB and rare in the DMG? That works. You want all spells to be accessible by PCs and PCs to make items? Put them all in the PHB.
This seems like another thread entirely. Probably a good idea to just start a new one rather than resurrect this old one.