Arte Magica Annichilata Maffei, Francesco Scipione Curiosa & Occulta,Esoterica

Libri Tre. Con Un'Appendice. Rare 1754 treatise, Maffei's reasoned reply to witchcraft panic and a pointed rejoinder to Tartarotti. Pp. [1] f.e., [10], 328, [6], [1] e.p. First edition. Contemporary paperboard binding with spine decorated in a printed pattern and manuscript title. Woodcut printer's device on the title page, inhabited woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. Clean copy with wide margins. Some minor pagination errors, but complete. Excellent condition. Third work by Maffei aimed at demolishing superstitious thought through the use of reason. There are sections dedicated to witchcraft, magic in ancient Greece and Rome, as well as pacts with the devil. Printed in Verona, it is a direct response to Girolamo Tartarotti and a continuation of the debate following the sensational 1749 execution of the elderly nun Maria Renata Singer on charges of witchcraft. It marks a pivotal moment in the intellectual history of witchcraft, touching upon demonology, theology, and Enlightenment rationalism. By documenting the transition from superstition to reason, it became an influential work in the analysis of magical belief and its decline.