![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/2014/NYR/2014_NYR_02861_0183_000(molitoris_ulricus_de_lamiis_et_phitonicis_mulieribus_reutlingen_johann023039).jpg?w=1)
THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
MOLITORIS, Ulricus (fl. second half of 15th century). De lamiis et phitonicis mulieribus. [Reutlingen: Johann Otmar, not before 10 January 1489].
Details
MOLITORIS, Ulricus (fl. second half of 15th century). De lamiis et phitonicis mulieribus. [Reutlingen: Johann Otmar, not before 10 January 1489].
Chancery 4o (187 x 131 mm). Collation: a-b8 c-d6. 26 leaves (of 28, lacking a1 title and final blank d6). 35 lines. Type 7:170G, 8:75G. 6 full-page woodcuts (of 7, lacking the title cut). (First leaf a bit soiled, a7-8 stained, b2.7 reversed in binding.) 19th-century vellum over boards (somewhat soiled). Provenance: Berlin, Royal Library (ownership and cancellation stamps on first leaf).
Probably the FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST PRINTED WORKS ON WITCHCRAFT. Precedence between it and an undated Strassburg edition by Prüss has not been established; both editions contain a prefatory letter dated Constance, 10 January 1489. Ulrich Molitor was born in Germany around 1442, he studied in Basel before moving to the University of Pavia, and went on to become a professor of Law at the University of Constance.
De Lamiis was first published in 1489 and was printed in at least five other editions before 1500. It is one of the earliest works published on witchcraft, and the first ever to be illustrated. The book is written in the form of a dialogue between the author and the dedicatee, the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, who doubts the existence of witches. Written at a time when theories concerning the heresy of witchcraft were yet to be firmly established, the author defends the belief in the powers of the Devil and his ability to deceive the human mind. The woodcuts, copied in later editions, were also used in Greyff's German edition of the work. HC *11536; BMC II, 587; Fairfax Murray German 297; Klebs 686.1; Polain(B) 2764; Schreiber 4785; Goff M-795.
Chancery 4o (187 x 131 mm). Collation: a-b8 c-d6. 26 leaves (of 28, lacking a1 title and final blank d6). 35 lines. Type 7:170G, 8:75G. 6 full-page woodcuts (of 7, lacking the title cut). (First leaf a bit soiled, a7-8 stained, b2.7 reversed in binding.) 19th-century vellum over boards (somewhat soiled). Provenance: Berlin, Royal Library (ownership and cancellation stamps on first leaf).
Probably the FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST PRINTED WORKS ON WITCHCRAFT. Precedence between it and an undated Strassburg edition by Prüss has not been established; both editions contain a prefatory letter dated Constance, 10 January 1489. Ulrich Molitor was born in Germany around 1442, he studied in Basel before moving to the University of Pavia, and went on to become a professor of Law at the University of Constance.
De Lamiis was first published in 1489 and was printed in at least five other editions before 1500. It is one of the earliest works published on witchcraft, and the first ever to be illustrated. The book is written in the form of a dialogue between the author and the dedicatee, the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, who doubts the existence of witches. Written at a time when theories concerning the heresy of witchcraft were yet to be firmly established, the author defends the belief in the powers of the Devil and his ability to deceive the human mind. The woodcuts, copied in later editions, were also used in Greyff's German edition of the work. HC *11536; BMC II, 587; Fairfax Murray German 297; Klebs 686.1; Polain(B) 2764; Schreiber 4785; Goff M-795.