First of all, you have to love a text that is about specters and lemurs and thunder. This is a key 17th-century edition of one of the most important and influential works on ghosts and spirits published during the Protestant Reformation. First printed in German in 1569, Ludwig Lavater's De Spectris (full title: De spectris, lemuribus et magnis atque insolitis fragoribus, variisque præsagitionibus, quæ plerumque obitum hominum, magnas clades, mutationesque Imperiorum præcedunt) sought to systematically categorize supernatural apparitions.
As a Swiss Reformed theologian, Lavater's goal was to counter Catholic beliefs about souls in Purgatory. He argued that apparitions were not the souls of the dead, but rather either illusions, natural phenomena, the work of angels, or, most often, demonic deceptions. The book is a fascinating attempt to apply reason and theological doctrine to folklore, distinguishing between different types of spirits and omens.
Its influence was profound, particularly on Elizabethan literature, and it is widely cited by scholars as a key source text for Shakespeare's Hamlet and its ghostly visitations. This work stands as a cornerstone of Reformation-era demonology, bridging the gap between medieval superstition and Enlightenment rationality. The dramatic engraved frontispiece in this edition perfectly captures the terrifying and wondrous world of spirits the text seeks to explore and explain.
Lavater, Ludwig. DE SPECTRIS, LEMURIBUS ET MAGNIS ATQUE INSOLITIS FRAGORIBUS, VARIISQUE PRÆSAGITIONIBUS... Leiden: Apud Henricum Verbiest . Contemporary full vellum. 12mo. [2] 245 [2]. 244 misnumbered. Text in Latin. With an engraved pictorial title page, woodcut initials, and typographical ornaments. Brunet III, 63-64; Caillet II, 6237; Graesse pp. 81 & 134. 5 1/8 x 2 7/8 in. Title in old manuscript on spine; later endpapers; corners of engraved title torn away without loss; some light, mainly marginal, staining and spotting, with a few darker spots or small stains. A well-preserved copy of this highly influential work on demonology.
First of all, you have to love a text that is about specters and lemurs and thunder. This is a key 17th-century edition of one of the most important and influential works on ghosts and spirits published during the Protestant Reformation. First printed in German in 1569, Ludwig Lavater's De Spectris (full title: De spectris, lemuribus et magnis atque insolitis fragoribus, variisque præsagitionibus, quæ plerumque obitum hominum, magnas clades, mutationesque Imperiorum præcedunt) sought to systematically categorize supernatural apparitions.
As a Swiss Reformed theologian, Lavater's goal was to counter Catholic beliefs about souls in Purgatory. He argued that apparitions were not the souls of the dead, but rather either illusions, natural phenomena, the work of angels, or, most often, demonic deceptions. The book is a fascinating attempt to apply reason and theological doctrine to folklore, distinguishing between different types of spirits and omens.
Its influence was profound, particularly on Elizabethan literature, and it is widely cited by scholars as a key source text for Shakespeare's Hamlet and its ghostly visitations. This work stands as a cornerstone of Reformation-era demonology, bridging the gap between medieval superstition and Enlightenment rationality. The dramatic engraved frontispiece in this edition perfectly captures the terrifying and wondrous world of spirits the text seeks to explore and explain.
Lavater, Ludwig. DE SPECTRIS, LEMURIBUS ET MAGNIS ATQUE INSOLITIS FRAGORIBUS, VARIISQUE PRÆSAGITIONIBUS... Leiden: Apud Henricum Verbiest . Contemporary full vellum. 12mo. [2] 245 [2]. 244 misnumbered. Text in Latin. With an engraved pictorial title page, woodcut initials, and typographical ornaments. Brunet III, 63-64; Caillet II, 6237; Graesse pp. 81 & 134. 5 1/8 x 2 7/8 in. Title in old manuscript on spine; later endpapers; corners of engraved title torn away without loss; some light, mainly marginal, staining and spotting, with a few darker spots or small stains. A well-preserved copy of this highly influential work on demonology.
