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Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 2,500
Bodin, Jean (1529-1596) De la Demonomanie des Sorciers.
Paris: Jacques du Puys, 1580.
First edition, quarto, bound in full 17th century French speckled calf, spine gilt-tooled (small chunk missing from top spine compartment, front joint starting to split), headlines trimmed, last few leaves with waterstaining, final leaf mounted, old library stamp to verso of title, generally good, 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.
Bodin's influential work on the legal persecution of those accused of witchcraft delves deeply into the idea that people could form pacts with the devil. He also maintained that through enchantments demonic malefactors could persuade judges to sympathize with accused sorcerers and that actual evidence of alleged witchcraft was not necessary to obtain lawful conviction, arguing that confessions gained through torture should be admissible in court.
