Marshall Rare Books
Compendio Dell'Arte Essoterica, Et Possbilita delle mirabili, & stupende operationi delli Demoni, & dei Malefici
A rare Venetian edition of one of the most influential 16th-century treatises on demonology and exorcism.
[72],563,[i.e.599,1]pp., wood cut publishers device to title, woodcut initials, contemporary ownership note to title, small hole to title not affecting text, occasional light foxing, from M3 to N2 a burn in the upper outer corner lightly touching the text, 8vo, full modern vellum over boards, red morocco label to spine,In Venetia: Appresso Fioravante Prati, 1595.
A rare Venetian edition of one of the most influential 16th-century treatises on demonology and exorcism.
One of the most important and influential works on exorcism by the most authoritative exorcist of Renaissance Italy, the Franciscan, Girolamo Menghi. A theologian and exorcist, he practised in Bologna, and was known as ‘the father of the exorcists’ art’.
The work lists a large number of exorcistic practices aimed at warding off every possible kind of curse, sorcery, witchcraft, black magic, and demonic possession. The text is divided into three books: the first dedicated to the nature and power of the devil; the second to the misdeeds of witches; the third to remedies for preventing and curing curses.
Menghi draws on both his own experience and earlier sources, including Heinrich Kramer’s Malleus Maleficarum. The treatise was included in the Index of Prohibited Books in 1709.
