Martin Del Rio: Investigations into Magic

Description

This is the first English translation of one of the most important, interesting and comprehensive discussions of the occult sciences ever published. Investigations into magic deals not only with magic in all its forms, from the manipulation of angelic and demonic powers to straightforward conjuring and illusion, but also with witchcraft, alchemy, astrology, divination, prophecy, and possession by evil spirits. In addition, Del Rio gives judges and confessors practical advice on the most effective ways of dealing with people who are accused of practising magic, and enlivens his whole discussion with anecdotes drawn from a remarkable range of sources, including his own experience. Nothing so panoramic had ever appeared before, and for the next one hundred and fifty years Investigations into magic was the indispensable reference work on the subject. -- .

P. G. Maxwell-Stuart is a Research Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Aberdeen and an honorary lecturer in the Department of History in the University of St. Andrews

'This volume represents an alliance between two meticulous bibliophiles, the demonologist del Rio and his editor Maxwell-Stuart, who has patiently identified most of the ancient, medieval and early modern texts upon which he relied for most of his source material. This translation makes accessible a major trove of source material as well as a famous polemical work.' Professor Ronald Hutton, Ecclesiastical History