Folio Archives 110: Malleus Maleficarum : The Hammer of Witchcraft 1968
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1wcarter
Malleus Maleficarum : The Hammer of Witchcraft by Jacobus Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer 1968
This is a most unusual book. Written in Latin in 1486, it was published in Bohemia and widely distributed throughout Europe as a guide to identifying, prosecuting and punishing witches. The full text consists of a quarter million words, so this is a significant condensation that avoids tedious Biblical quotations, detailed confirmations, redundancies and repetitions. Translated into English in 1928 by Rev. Montague Summers, the full version makes almost impossible reading for the lay man.
The text is in many places quite horrifying with extreme misogynism, details on the types of torture to be used by inquisitors to extract confessions, and tales of disfigurement and violent death. There seems to be an emphasis on the inherent evil nature of women, problems with impotence and coition, the use of toads and snakes in potions, the destruction of newborn babies and the conversion of men into animals. It is not light reading, but lets one have an idea of the way in which the clergy and uneducated thought about life and its tribulations over 500 years ago.
There are three sections in the 221 page book. The first deals with why devils and witches exist; the much longer second section details the methods by which witchcraft affects people and how it can be treated; and the extremely condensed third part details how to apply torture, obtain a confession, and sentence a witch.
There are 24 engravings at the head of each of the chapters taken from a 1626 Milanese edition of the book, but no other illustrations. It has been edited and introduced by Pennethorpe Hughes. The binding is full black cloth blocked with a red and silver pattern, the endpapers are light grey and the slipcase (26x16.3cm.) is mottled black and grey.
My copy had a severely sun faded spine that has been partially re-blacked, leaving a pale grey band across the silver blocked title (see here).
There were two other cover versions of this book issued by the Folio Society - one in which the flames on the spine are red instead of silver, and there was a second impression in 1969 with the lettering on the spine running vertically instead of horizontally.
Two known variants (photos from web):-
Red flames on spine
Title on spine written vertically instead of horizontally.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
This is a most unusual book. Written in Latin in 1486, it was published in Bohemia and widely distributed throughout Europe as a guide to identifying, prosecuting and punishing witches. The full text consists of a quarter million words, so this is a significant condensation that avoids tedious Biblical quotations, detailed confirmations, redundancies and repetitions. Translated into English in 1928 by Rev. Montague Summers, the full version makes almost impossible reading for the lay man.
The text is in many places quite horrifying with extreme misogynism, details on the types of torture to be used by inquisitors to extract confessions, and tales of disfigurement and violent death. There seems to be an emphasis on the inherent evil nature of women, problems with impotence and coition, the use of toads and snakes in potions, the destruction of newborn babies and the conversion of men into animals. It is not light reading, but lets one have an idea of the way in which the clergy and uneducated thought about life and its tribulations over 500 years ago.
There are three sections in the 221 page book. The first deals with why devils and witches exist; the much longer second section details the methods by which witchcraft affects people and how it can be treated; and the extremely condensed third part details how to apply torture, obtain a confession, and sentence a witch.
There are 24 engravings at the head of each of the chapters taken from a 1626 Milanese edition of the book, but no other illustrations. It has been edited and introduced by Pennethorpe Hughes. The binding is full black cloth blocked with a red and silver pattern, the endpapers are light grey and the slipcase (26x16.3cm.) is mottled black and grey.
My copy had a severely sun faded spine that has been partially re-blacked, leaving a pale grey band across the silver blocked title (see here).
There were two other cover versions of this book issued by the Folio Society - one in which the flames on the spine are red instead of silver, and there was a second impression in 1969 with the lettering on the spine running vertically instead of horizontally.
Two known variants (photos from web):-
Red flames on spine
Title on spine written vertically instead of horizontally.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2The_Toad_Revolt_of84
I've talked with my wife about this book, she seemed pretty sketchy when I mentioned purchasing it. I don't know why?
5rogerthat2
Verbal text with red flames:
https://ebay.us/m/VN4ruW
https://ebay.us/m/VN4ruW
6LesMiserables
Nice book, I'd like to own that.
7affle
I have an interesting copy of this book. It is the second impression of 1969, as the last illustration of Warwick's review, silver spine, vertical text. The interest is that it is the FS file copy, bought off the naughty trolley long years ago, and has a sticker providing the information that the second impression was of 3630 copies, at a cost of - wait for it - 9/3d per copy. For those unfamiliar with the UK's pre-decimal currency, that is nine shillings and three old pence, or £0.4625 in the new currency.
Our wonderful wiki has the prospectus for that year indicating that the retail cost of the book was 29/6d or £1.475 in decimal currency, a mark-up of about 220%.
Sir Keith Thomas's history of Religion and the decline of magic, published by the FS in 2012, explains why the book was much less influential in England than in Germany and France, for example.
Edited to say I forgot to add, especially for @LesMiserables, that Thomas calls the book ' ...this great monument to medieval Catholicism...'
Our wonderful wiki has the prospectus for that year indicating that the retail cost of the book was 29/6d or £1.475 in decimal currency, a mark-up of about 220%.
Sir Keith Thomas's history of Religion and the decline of magic, published by the FS in 2012, explains why the book was much less influential in England than in Germany and France, for example.
Edited to say I forgot to add, especially for @LesMiserables, that Thomas calls the book ' ...this great monument to medieval Catholicism...'
8folio_books
>7 affle: the prospectus for that year indicating that the retail cost of the book was 29/6d or £1.475 in decimal currency, a mark-up of about 220%.
That would be about right for a standard edition at the time,
That would be about right for a standard edition at the time,
10folio_books
>9 boldface: I truly have no idea but I'd guess it's in the same ballpark. Somewhere not too far away from 250%.
11PiotrSlettitsj
>1 wcarter: I have the same edition, including faded spine. How can you re-black a spine? Never heard about this, but would be interested, since the spine is more gray then black
12antinous_in_london
>11 PiotrSlettitsj: I have seen quite a few copies of this book & have never seen a copy that didn't have a faded spine - almost to the point where i started to wonder if it was part of the design ! Lol
