Malleus Malificarum

London: John Rodker, 1928. 

4to, XLV, 278pp. Orig. quarter red vellum, linen boards. Very good. 

Number 1200 of 1275 numbered copies, printed on Dutch paper, of the first translation into English. The Malleus Malifacarum, or Hammer of Witches, first issued in 1489, was the manual used by the interrogators and judges of the Inquisition for the apprehension and trying of witches. “From a psychiatric standpoint... significant for its highly detailed descriptions of the behavior of witches, given within the context of determining genuine cases of demonic possession. If we agree with Weyer that witches were possessed by nothing more than mental illness, then the Malleus Maleficarum may be viewed - grotesque as it may seem - as a contemporary handbook of psychopathology, and an early document in the history of psychiatry” (Norman). 

laid in is a prospectus (4pp) advertising forthcoming titles in the series.