Guazzo, Compendium maleficarum, Milan, 1626, contemporary vellum

GUAZZO, FRANCESCO MARIA

Compendium maleficarum... in hac autem secunda aeditione ab eodem authore pulcherrimis doctrinis ditatum, exemplis auctum, & remediis locupletarum. Milan: ex Collegii Ambrosiani typographia, 1626

4to (204 x 146mm.), engraved title-page, woodcut initials and headpieces, old vellum, new endpapers, occasional light browning, section of spine repaired

A noted manual of witchcraft from the Ambrosian cleric Guazzo (or Guaccio), written in around 1605 while he was at the court of Cleves for the trial of a priest accused of bewitching the duke of Jülich-Cleve-Berg. This second edition is much explanded to accommodate new information, though much of Guazzo's text is compiled from other similar works. Guazzo is clear that witches fly at night and he explains the various forms of bewitchment. The final book contains liturgical passages to be used for exorcisms.