1612 - The Intellectual Foundations of the Witch Hunts: Delrio's Disquisitiones
This volume is a key early edition of Martín Delrio's monumental Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex (Six Books of Magical Disquisitions), arguably the most comprehensive and influential encyclopedia of witchcraft, demonology, and magic produced during the Counter-Reformation. Delrio, a highly erudite Jesuit scholar, jurist, and theologian, compiled an exhaustive synthesis of classical, biblical, theological, and legal sources to create this work, intended, as the title states, for theologians, lawyers, physicians, and scholars grappling with the perceived menace of magic and superstition. This 1612 edition, printed in Mainz by Johann Albin, is particularly significant as it incorporates the author's final revisions ("Ultimis curis longe auctius & castigatius"), presenting the text in its most mature form shortly after Delrio's death.
The Disquisitiones systematically explores the vast and terrifying landscape of illicit arts. Its six books delve into the distinctions between natural and demonic magic, various forms of divination, the nature and effects of harmful witchcraft (maleficium), the intricate hierarchies and powers of demons, demonic pacts, sexual relations with incubi and succubi, and critically, the legal framework for prosecuting sorcery. Delrio provided judges and inquisitors with detailed guidance on investigation, evidence, interrogation (including the use of torture), and sentencing, making the book an indispensable, though chillingly practical, handbook. While often cited as fueling the European witch craze by lending scholarly authority to popular fears and legal procedures, it also preserved a massive amount of folklore and demonstrated skepticism towards certain extravagant claims, reflecting the complex intellectual currents of the time.
This copy, printed by the notable Mainz printer Johann Albin under Imperial privilege, showcases the typical scholarly presentation of the era, including a title page printed in red and black for emphasis. The presence of early handwritten annotations on the title page points to active engagement with the text by its contemporary owners, wrestling with the dense arguments and disturbing subject matter within. As a revised and augmented edition of Delrio's magnum opus, this volume stands as a crucial primary source for understanding the intellectual foundations of the witch hunts, Jesuit scholarship on demonology, and the anxieties surrounding magic and the supernatural in early modern Europe.
1612. DELRIO, Martin Antonio (Martino del Rio). Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex. Quibus continetur accurata curiosarum artium, & vanarum superstitionum confutatio, vtilis Theologis, Iurisconsultis, Medicis, Philologis. Editio Vltimis curis [authoris] longe auctius & castigatius. Moguntiae [Mainz]: Apud Ioannem Albinum [Johann Albin]. Quarto. [12] 1070pp. [2]. Title page printed in red and black. Text block excellent. Some browning and foxing. Contemporary vellum over boards. Contemporary annotations on title page. Imperial privilege noted ("Cum gratia & priuileg. Caesar. Maiest. ad annos viginti."). Binding and overall condition very good.
This volume is a key early edition of Martín Delrio's monumental Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex (Six Books of Magical Disquisitions), arguably the most comprehensive and influential encyclopedia of witchcraft, demonology, and magic produced during the Counter-Reformation. Delrio, a highly erudite Jesuit scholar, jurist, and theologian, compiled an exhaustive synthesis of classical, biblical, theological, and legal sources to create this work, intended, as the title states, for theologians, lawyers, physicians, and scholars grappling with the perceived menace of magic and superstition. This 1612 edition, printed in Mainz by Johann Albin, is particularly significant as it incorporates the author's final revisions ("Ultimis curis longe auctius & castigatius"), presenting the text in its most mature form shortly after Delrio's death.
The Disquisitiones systematically explores the vast and terrifying landscape of illicit arts. Its six books delve into the distinctions between natural and demonic magic, various forms of divination, the nature and effects of harmful witchcraft (maleficium), the intricate hierarchies and powers of demons, demonic pacts, sexual relations with incubi and succubi, and critically, the legal framework for prosecuting sorcery. Delrio provided judges and inquisitors with detailed guidance on investigation, evidence, interrogation (including the use of torture), and sentencing, making the book an indispensable, though chillingly practical, handbook. While often cited as fueling the European witch craze by lending scholarly authority to popular fears and legal procedures, it also preserved a massive amount of folklore and demonstrated skepticism towards certain extravagant claims, reflecting the complex intellectual currents of the time.
This copy, printed by the notable Mainz printer Johann Albin under Imperial privilege, showcases the typical scholarly presentation of the era, including a title page printed in red and black for emphasis. The presence of early handwritten annotations on the title page points to active engagement with the text by its contemporary owners, wrestling with the dense arguments and disturbing subject matter within. As a revised and augmented edition of Delrio's magnum opus, this volume stands as a crucial primary source for understanding the intellectual foundations of the witch hunts, Jesuit scholarship on demonology, and the anxieties surrounding magic and the supernatural in early modern Europe.
1612. DELRIO, Martin Antonio (Martino del Rio). Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex. Quibus continetur accurata curiosarum artium, & vanarum superstitionum confutatio, vtilis Theologis, Iurisconsultis, Medicis, Philologis. Editio Vltimis curis [authoris] longe auctius & castigatius. Moguntiae [Mainz]: Apud Ioannem Albinum [Johann Albin]. Quarto. [12] 1070pp. [2]. Title page printed in red and black. Text block excellent. Some browning and foxing. Contemporary vellum over boards. Contemporary annotations on title page. Imperial privilege noted ("Cum gratia & priuileg. Caesar. Maiest. ad annos viginti."). Binding and overall condition very good.
This volume is a key early edition of Martín Delrio's monumental Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex (Six Books of Magical Disquisitions), arguably the most comprehensive and influential encyclopedia of witchcraft, demonology, and magic produced during the Counter-Reformation. Delrio, a highly erudite Jesuit scholar, jurist, and theologian, compiled an exhaustive synthesis of classical, biblical, theological, and legal sources to create this work, intended, as the title states, for theologians, lawyers, physicians, and scholars grappling with the perceived menace of magic and superstition. This 1612 edition, printed in Mainz by Johann Albin, is particularly significant as it incorporates the author's final revisions ("Ultimis curis longe auctius & castigatius"), presenting the text in its most mature form shortly after Delrio's death.
The Disquisitiones systematically explores the vast and terrifying landscape of illicit arts. Its six books delve into the distinctions between natural and demonic magic, various forms of divination, the nature and effects of harmful witchcraft (maleficium), the intricate hierarchies and powers of demons, demonic pacts, sexual relations with incubi and succubi, and critically, the legal framework for prosecuting sorcery. Delrio provided judges and inquisitors with detailed guidance on investigation, evidence, interrogation (including the use of torture), and sentencing, making the book an indispensable, though chillingly practical, handbook. While often cited as fueling the European witch craze by lending scholarly authority to popular fears and legal procedures, it also preserved a massive amount of folklore and demonstrated skepticism towards certain extravagant claims, reflecting the complex intellectual currents of the time.
This copy, printed by the notable Mainz printer Johann Albin under Imperial privilege, showcases the typical scholarly presentation of the era, including a title page printed in red and black for emphasis. The presence of early handwritten annotations on the title page points to active engagement with the text by its contemporary owners, wrestling with the dense arguments and disturbing subject matter within. As a revised and augmented edition of Delrio's magnum opus, this volume stands as a crucial primary source for understanding the intellectual foundations of the witch hunts, Jesuit scholarship on demonology, and the anxieties surrounding magic and the supernatural in early modern Europe.
1612. DELRIO, Martin Antonio (Martino del Rio). Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex. Quibus continetur accurata curiosarum artium, & vanarum superstitionum confutatio, vtilis Theologis, Iurisconsultis, Medicis, Philologis. Editio Vltimis curis [authoris] longe auctius & castigatius. Moguntiae [Mainz]: Apud Ioannem Albinum [Johann Albin]. Quarto. [12] 1070pp. [2]. Title page printed in red and black. Text block excellent. Some browning and foxing. Contemporary vellum over boards. Contemporary annotations on title page. Imperial privilege noted ("Cum gratia & priuileg. Caesar. Maiest. ad annos viginti."). Binding and overall condition very good.