The Notorious Handbook Once Used to Condemn and Punish "Witches", by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger. This is one of the most notorious books in history. Thousands of innocent people, especially women, lost their lives at the expense of this book. It was first published around 1489, shortly after the invention of the printing press and five years after a papal bull was issued legitimizing the belief in witches. It went through at least 30 printings and became the handbook for witch hunters, both Protestant and Catholic. It gave permission to bishops and secular authorities to prosecute witches if there were no representatives from the Inquisition around, giving full directions. After the witch trials swept through Europe, some villages were left with as few as two women. So if this book is so bad, why should one read it? Because there are lessons to be learned, both psychologically and historically, and there is an ignorance to overcome. This is a fascinating study of mass hysteria, greed, and delusional behavior.

Product Description: The Malleus Maleficarum is the most famous early modern text on witches and witch hunting. Often known as the 'Hammer of Witches', the Malleus consists of a demonstration of the existence of witchcraft and a discussion of both the practice of witchcraft and cures for the injuries caused by it, together with a recommended method of exterminating it judicially...read more

Product Description: Were witches real in the Middle Ages? This is a handbook on witchcraft first published in 1628, claiming to expose the entire practice and profession of witchcraft. Based on what we know today, the material may not be entirely accurate...read more

Product Description: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work...read more

Product Description: First written in 1486 by zealous Inquisitors of the Catholic Church, "The Witch Hammer" came to be the witch-hunting handbook of the fifteenth century. Its main purpose was to refute doubts of the existence of witchcraft, though it proceeds to prove women more susceptible than men, as well as to outline procedures that allowed law enforcers to discover and convict witches...read more

Product Description: This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience...read more