Antique book - Sprenger J. & Institoris H. 1581

Item Number:  15405 Authenticity Guarantee

Category:  Books > Incunabula

Second Koberger edition of the famous and notorious Hammer of Witches, a treatise on the prosecution of witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, a German Catholic clergy man. The book was first published in Speyer in 1487. Jacob Sprenger is also often attributed as an author, but some scholars now believe that he became associated with the Malleus Maleficarum largely as a result of Kramer's wish to lend his book as much official authority as possible. The main purpose of the Malleus was to attempt to systematically refute arguments claiming that witchcraft does not exist, discredit those who expressed scepticism about its reality, to claim that witches were more often women than men, and to educate magistrates on the procedures that could find them out and convict them.

The book became the handbook for secular courts throughout Renaissance Europe, but was not used by the Inquisition, which even cautioned against relying on the work. Between the years 1487 and 1520 the work was published thirteen times. It was again published between the years of 1574 to 1669 a total of sixteen times. Regardless of the authenticity of the endorsements which appear at the beginning of the book, their presence contributed to the popularity of the work.

The treatise describes how women and men become inclined for witchcraft. The authors argue that women were more susceptible to demonic temptations through the manifold weaknesses of their gender. It was believed that they were weaker in faith and more carnal than men.

References: Goff I-168; Hain 9246; GW 12473; Polain, 2126; STC German, p.827