![MOLITORIS, Ulricus (fl. second half of 15th century). De lamiis et phitonicis mulieribus. [Reutlingen: Johann Otmar, not before 10 January 1489].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/1998/CKS/1998_CKS_06055_0036_000(112211).jpg?w=1)
Details
MOLITORIS, Ulricus (fl. second half of 15th century). De lamiis et phitonicis mulieribus. [Reutlingen: Johann Otmar, not before 10 January 1489].
Chancery 4° (189 x 130mm). Collation: a-b8 c-d6. 26 leaves (of 28, lacking a1 title and without final blank). 35 lines. Type 7:170G, 8:75G. 6 full-page woodcuts (of 7, lacking title cut). (First leaf spotted, a7-8 stained, b2.7 reversed in binding.) 19th-century vellum (somewhat soiled). Provenance: Berlin, Royal Library (ownership and cancellation stamps).
Possibly the FIRST EDITION of one of the earliest printed works on witchcraft. Precedence between it and an undated Strassburg edition has not been established; both editions contain a prefatory letter dated Constance, 10 January 1489. Molitor, professor of law at Constance, wrote his work on female sorcerers and soothsayers as a dialogue to allay fears of the heresy of witchcraft, a concern widepsread through recent inquisitions by the Dominicans. The woodcuts, copied in later editions, were also used in Greyff's German edition of the work. HC *11536; BMC II, 587; Klebs 686.1; Polain(B) 2764; Schreiber 4785; Goff M-795.
Chancery 4° (189 x 130mm). Collation: a-b8 c-d6. 26 leaves (of 28, lacking a1 title and without final blank). 35 lines. Type 7:170G, 8:75G. 6 full-page woodcuts (of 7, lacking title cut). (First leaf spotted, a7-8 stained, b2.7 reversed in binding.) 19th-century vellum (somewhat soiled). Provenance: Berlin, Royal Library (ownership and cancellation stamps).
Possibly the FIRST EDITION of one of the earliest printed works on witchcraft. Precedence between it and an undated Strassburg edition has not been established; both editions contain a prefatory letter dated Constance, 10 January 1489. Molitor, professor of law at Constance, wrote his work on female sorcerers and soothsayers as a dialogue to allay fears of the heresy of witchcraft, a concern widepsread through recent inquisitions by the Dominicans. The woodcuts, copied in later editions, were also used in Greyff's German edition of the work. HC *11536; BMC II, 587; Klebs 686.1; Polain(B) 2764; Schreiber 4785; Goff M-795.