Compendium Malfarium

Originally published in 1608, Brother Francesco Maria Guazzo’s Compendium Malefarium was an immediate success and widely regarded as the authoritative text on witches and witch-hunting.

Guazzo was an expert in witchcraft and demonic possession, having performed exorcisms on ducal families such as the Houses of La Marck and Guise, and included classifications of demons, as well as ways to identify and cure witches, in his three-part witch-hunting manual. Accompanying Guazzo’s text are 33 original illustrations (31 woodcuts and 2 etchings) which make the Compendium the most illustrated work on witchcraft of the early modern period.

The earliest English translation of the Compendium Malefarium was published in 1929 and edited by the eccentric clergyman Montague Summers. The 1929 edition had a limited printing of only 1275 copies; number 303 is housed in Miller Library’s Rare Book Room. Though there are some changes, both big and small, between the 1608 and 1929 editions, both publication years include the 33 original woodcuts and etchings.

Some illustrations depict overtly occult scenes, such as a staff meeting of witches and demons, while others appear to be more normal- dare I say, even adorable? For instance, at first glance, the first illustration in Chapter XIII shows what appears to be a baby and mother cat outside a house, accompanied by a snail. How cute and seemingly irrelevant to witch-hunting! Reading the surrounding text, however, reveals that this is actually an illustration of two witches who have transmogrified into wolves. The snail is suspiciously unexplained.

The third book of the Compendium- beginning on page 163 of the 1929 edition- serves as the diagnostic section for the eager witch-hunter and includes a long list of symptoms of witchcraft. According to the Compendium, “when his brain feels as if it were tightly bound” or when they “feel acute pain in their guts”, these are sure signs that you are actually dealing with a witch. Those suffering from headaches, stomachaches, and witchcraft will be happy to know that there are a number of cures, including baptism, confession, and prayer.

To explore more witchcraft symptoms and cures, check out the digitized version of the 1929 edition, courtesy of the Internet Archive:https://archive.org/details/compendium-maleficarum/page/22/mode/1up?view=theater