Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex 1679

A handsome edition of this major demonological treatise, belonging to the tradition of the Malleus Maleficarum and devoted to the systematic collection of learning concerning witchcraft, demonology, and magic.

This is one of the most influential works of early modern demonology and witchcraft studies. Del Rio’s Disquisitionum Magicarum became the standard Catholic treatment of magic, sorcery, divination, possession, and the operations of the demonic, remaining in print for more than a century. Drawing upon Scripture, patristic authorities, canon law, classical literature, and contemporary judicial cases, it examines the nature of supernatural phenomena, the distinction between miracle and magic, the reality of witchcraft and demonic pacts, and the legal and theological response to alleged sorcery. Written by the Jesuit scholar and theologian Martin Del Rio (1551–1608), the work ranks among the most comprehensive and widely read demonological treatises of the seventeenth century, exerting a lasting influence on both ecclesiastical and secular understandings of witchcraft and the occult.