[SPRENGER, Jakob (c. 1436-95), Heinrich Kramer [or Institoris] (c. 1430-1505), Johannes Nider (1380-1438)]. Malleus Maleficarum: de lamiis et strigibus, et sagis aliisque magis & daemoniacis, eorumque arte, & potestate, & poenâ, tractatus aliquot tam veterum, quàm recentiorum auctorum: in tomos duos distributi, quorum primus continet: I. Malleum Maleficarum Jacobi Sprengeri, & Henrici Institoris, inquisitorum: II. Joannis Nideri theologi formicarum de maleficis, earumque praestigiis ac deceptionibus. Secundus verò tomus continet Tractatus VII. suo loco singulariter enumeratos. Omnes de integro nunc demum in ordinem congestos, nostis & explicationibus illustratos, atque ab innumeris, quibus ad nauseam usque icatebant mendis in usum communem vindicatos. [Colophon:] “Francoforti [Frankfurt], ad Moenum apud Wolfgangum Ritchterum, impensis Nicholai Bassaei. Anno. M.DC." [1600].
The first volume (of two) of the Frankfurt Basseus edition, containing the complete Latin text of the Malleus maleficiarum. Leather-bound; softcover; octavo (15 x 10 x 5 cm.); pp. 16, 806, 38. Signatures: +8 A-Z8 a-z8 Aa-Ff8 Gg8. Latin text in roman letter. Bound in contemporary limp vellum with remnants of ties. Initial and terminal blanks present. Printer's woodcut device to title; woodcut initials and tail-piece to colophon; printed sidenotes. Dedicatory preface by Lazare Zetzner to Henricus Schorus, provost of Surbourg. Contents: part I comprises the "Malleus Maleficarum" itself, and part II contains extracts from the "Formicarius" of Johannes Nider. Condition: VERY GOOD. Collated complete. Binding tight and secure with moderate marking to covers. Early ink ownership inscription to title, 5ff. in initial gatherings with small lower margin defects and loss of a few words of text (+2, A1, B5, C2 & D2). A very well-preserved copy. Scarce.
Notes: A rare and important edition of the "Malleus Maleficarum," one of the most infamous books in history which became known as the "Bible of witch-hunting". Originally compiled in the late 15th-century by Dominican inquisitors, the Malleus maleficarum (literally, the ‘hammer of witches’) is perhaps the best known of the earliest treatises on witchcraft. The attribution of Sprenger as a co-author has been disputed. The first printed edition appeared in Strasbourg in 1486. “There can be no doubt that this work had in its day and for a full couple of centuries an enormous influence. The work was of course widely referred to throughout the European witch trials, and this particular edition was issued at a time when the witch-hunts in France, Germany, and Switzerland were still in full swing, and there is no doubt that copies of this printing helped seal the fate of many of the unfortunate accused. There are few demonologists and writers upon witchcraft who do not refer to its pages as an ultimate authority. It was continually quoted and appealed to in witch-trials” (Montague Summers). “It is universally considered as the greatest summa of printed demonological literature …” (Mora, George (editor), Witches, Devils, and Doctors in the Renaissance, 1991, pp. 724-5). Norman Douglas described it as “the misogynists’ handbook.” Cf. Norman 1997; cf. Wellcome 6049.
This edition was published in two volumes in 1600 and included not just the "Malleus Maleficarum" but also a collection of other significant demonological texts. The first volume [here offered for sale] comprises the "Malleus Maleficarum" itself, plus extracts from the "Formicarius" of Johannes Nider (originally the second book ever printed to discuss witchcraft). The second companion volume [which is here lacking] contains nine demonological treatises: Bernard Basin, "De artibus magicis ac magorum malificiis"; Ulrich Molitor, "Dialogum de lamiis et pytonicis muliéribus"; Girolamo Menghi, "Flagellum Daemonum"; John Gerson, "De probatione Spirituum"; Thomas Murner, "De Pythonico contractu"; Foelicis Malleoli (Felix Hemmerlin) "Tractatus duos exorcismorum" & "De credulitate Daemonibus adhibenda"; Bartolomeo Spina, "De Strigibus feu Maleficis" & "Apologia quadruplici de Lamiis".
