Arte Magica annichilata. Libri Tre.

FIRST EDITION,[10], 328, [6]pp., without final blank, woodcut printers device to title, inhabited woodcut initials, head and tail pieces, contemporary boards, spine decorated with a repeating crescent pattern, manuscript title, 4to, Verona, for Antonio Andreoni, 1754

This is the third work by Maffei aimed at demolishing superstitious thought through the use of reason.

Francesco Scpione Maffei (1675-1755) was an antiquarian with a humanist education who felt the entire edifice of popular belief in witches, enchantment and the Satanic had to be swept away. In his works he declared war, not only on the belief in witches, but broadened it to include all superstitious beliefs. Mixing both Enlightenment thinking and theological ideas based on scripture, Maffei powerfully argues away the Devil’s power on Earth.

Showing considerable dexterity, Maffei managed to maintain the appearance of moderation while campaigning against belief in demonic power in order to avoid gaining the attention of the Inquisition by being labelled a Naturalist.

In this work, in particular, there are sections dedicated to witchcraft, magic in Ancient Greece and Rome, as well as pacts with the devil.

[Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the making of modernity, 1650-1750, Jonathan I. Israel, 2001]