Books from the George Fraser Black Witchcraft Collection
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Wicked Words- Books from the George Fraser Black Witchcraft Collection An exhibit drawn from the Special Collections of the University Library Curated by Jennifer Heise Drew University Library October 15-November 15, 2008 George Fraser Black Collection on Witchcraft Pre-modern notions of witchcraft, and the witch persecutions that flourished in the 15th through 17th centuries, are a puzzle that is part and parcel of our culture. From the Halloween witches of October to the political and/or criminal “witch-hunt,” idea of malicious and possibly devil-worshiping ‘witches’ is familiar to everyone. But even before “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” appeared on TV, historians were re-examining the history of witchcraft. One place for historians to look is in the texts of the witch persecution era. Drew is fortunate to have the George Fraser Black collection on Witchcraft, which includes a number of pre-17th century printed works as well as a variety of other historical works on Witchcraft. George Fraser Black, an early twentieth century librarian at the New York Public Library, researched a variety of topics, from the history of Scotland, the culture of the Romany [Gypsies], and including a study of witchcraft history. The collection, first donated to Fairleigh Dickinson University and transferred to Drew in 2001, is a representative sample of the research tools available to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century scholar. It predates the extensive distribution of primary source materials via microfiche and microfilm, let alone the appearance of digitized images and/or transcriptions of such sources online. While these items are often available in reprints or via library sites (or Google Books), it’s a visual experience to see the originals and early reprints shown here. George Fraser Black, 1865-1948 A lifelong librarian, Dr. Black emigrated from Scotland in 1896. He was on the staff of the New York Public Library and its predecessor, the Astor Library from 1896 to 1931. His scholarly publications included bibliographies, reference works, handlists, and grammars; he was a frequent contributor to the Bulletin of the New York Public Library and the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Though Black remains famous in onomastic circles for his monumental Surnames of Scotland, his interests branched out from Scottish history into gypsy lore, the history of witchcraft, and a variety of other folklore, historic, and linguistic areas. While Dr. Black planned to write a history of witchcraft after he retired, this project was never completed. The witchcraft section of his scholarly library was eventually donated to Fairleigh Dickinson University, and passed from their keeping into Drew’s in 2001. The collection’s edition of the Malleus Malificarum was featured in a story in the Drew Magazine in 2007, and was studied by Dr. Louis Hamilton’s First Year Seminar class in their study of the history of witchcraft. The Exhibit The Black collection includes a number of early editions of texts written about witchcraft at the beginning and the height of the era of witch persecutions from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. The provenance of these volumes is unclear; they may have belonged to judicial personnel, theologians, or scholars with academic interests in witchcraft and magic. What is clear is that the volumes displayed here were owned and read during the witch-hunting period. Institoris, Heinrich. Mallevs maleficarvm; in tres divisvs partes, in quibus concurrentia ad maleficia, maleficiorum effectus, remedia aduersus maleficia, et modus deniq; procedendi, ac puniendi maleficos abunde continetur, praecipue autem omnibus inquisitoribus, & diuini verbi concionatoribus vtilis, ac necessarius. Auctore Iacobo Sprengero ... Omnia summo studio illustrata, & a multis mendis recens vindicata. Cum indice quaestionum & rerum memorabilium copioso. (Francofvrti ad Moenvm, apud Nicolaum Bassaeum, 1580). Drew University Library Special Collections, BF1569 .I5 1580 The 1487 Hammer of Witches is the best known of the witch-hunting manuals. Not only was it widely available during the witchcraft persecution era, but the distribution of a 1928 translation by Reverend Montague Summers made it accessible for modern commentators on witchcraft and the persecutions. German inquisitor Henrich Kramer and Dominican Johann Sprenger’s text is considered to be one of the most misogynist…. Drew’s copy is a 1580 printing and contains annotations, possibly made by someone involved in witchcraft investigations. Weyer, Johann. De praestigiis daemonum, et incantationibus ac ueneficijs, libri V. (Basileae, Per Ioannem Oporinum, 1566). Drew University Library Special Collections, BF1520 .W65 1566 Johann Weyer [Wier], a Lutheran physician, wrote On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons, one of the first books to contest the sixteenth-century idea of witchcraft. Weyer compared the contemporary idea of witchcraft and that described in the Bible and declared that while Biblical-style sorcerers could exist, the contemporary idea of a witch was not Biblical and in fact was contrary to theology. His claims that alleged witches and/or their victims suffered from delusion, mental illness and/or senile dementia, are often invoked as the first psychological treatment of witchcraft. Jean Bodin and other writers responded with attacks on such skeptical treatment of witchcraft throughout the following century. The original Latin edition, was published in 1563; the Latin edition owned by Drew is from 1566. Godelmann, Johann Georg. Tractatus de magis, veneficis et lamiis, deque his recte cognoscendis et puniendis. Propter varias et controversas de hac quæstione hominum sententias, utilissimus, [et cunctis ad rerumpulicarum gubernacula sedentibus maxime necessarius.. (Francofurti, Ex officina typographica I. Saurii, impensis N. Bassei, 1601). Drew University Special Collections, BF1520 .G63 1601 Johann Godelmann’s A Treatise on Magicians, Sorcerers, and Witches and How Properly to Identify and Punish Them was another of the anti-witchhunt texts. Godelmann, a Lutheran lawyer and law scholar, claimed that witchcraft should be subject to the regular rules of evidence and criminal procedure in the German courts, and not as the crimen exemplum that Bodin advocated. While Godelmann was skeptical about certain types of witchcraft, he also argued that those who could be proven to have used magic to cause harm should be punished. (Pacts with the Devil, weatherworking and shapechanging, he wrote, were merely delusional and not punishable.) The book was originally published in 1591; the Drew copy is from 1601. Bodin, Jean. Ioannis Bodini, Andegavensis, De magorvm demonomania, sev Detestando lamiarum ac magorum cum Satana commercio, libri IV. : Recens recogniti, et mvltis in locis *a mendis repurgati. Accessit eivsdem opinionvm Ioannis Wieri confutatio, non minus docta quam pia. Francofvrti, : Typis Wolfgangi Richteri, : Impensis omnium hredum Nicolai Bassi., 1603. Drew University Library Special Collections, BF1520 .B6 1603 Political philosopher Jean Bodin’s 1580 On the Demonmania of Sorcerers is a radical departure from his more liberal political and historical writing. Demonmania, published partly in response to Johann Weyer’s skeptical work, discussed the necessity of believing in witchcraft and advocated harsh trial procedures. Bodin considered witchcraft a crimen exemplum (extraordinary crime) which required a suspension of the usual rules of judicial process, including reduced rules of evidence, reliance on torture, and penalties for nearly everyone accused of witchcraft whether convicted or not. Francisci, Erasmus. Der höllische Proteus, oder tausend-künstige Versteller vermittelst Erzehlung der vielfältigen Bildverwechslungen erscheinender Gespenster/werfender und poltrender Geister/gespenstischer Vorzeichen der Todes-Fälle/wie auch andrer abentheuerlicher Händel/arglistiger Possen/und seltsmer Aufzüge dieses verdammten Schauspielers/und ... Betriegers ... abgebildet durch Erasmum Francisci. Nürnberg: In Verlegung W.M. Endters, 1695. Drew University Library Special Collections, BF1445 .F82 This comparatively obscure text is a compendium of ghost stories in German, which the author attributes to the Devil, a.k.a. “the Infernal Proteus.” Remy, Nicolas. Demonolatry, by Nicolas Remy ... in 3 books; translated by E. A. Ashwin, edited with introduction and notes by the Rev. Montague Summers; drawn from the capital trials of 900 persons, more or less, who within the last fifteen years have in Lorraine paid the penalty of death for the crime of witchcraft. London, J. Rodker, 1930. [French original first published, Lyon, 1595.] . Drew University Library Special Collections, BF1520 .R45 1930 Though Remy’s claims of attending 900 witchcraft trials have never been substantiated, he was a famous magistrate and witch-hunter in Lorraine, France. Remy, a Catholic, connects the alleged contemporary practices of witches with historical Roman and Greek pagans, as well as describing in great detail and with many examples the alleged crimes of the witches. Later authors, including Francesco Maria Guazzo, were much influenced by him. This volume was also translated by Montague Summers, who in his introduction makes much of Remy’s accusations against the “Satanists.” Guazzo, Francesco Maria. Compendium maleficarum, collected in three books from many sources by Brother Francesco Maria Guazzo, showing iniquitous and execrable operations of witches against the human race, and the