The same spirit name can appear in a story, a catalogue, a skeptical polemic, and a later picture book. Its image, rank, date, or attributed power can change between those sources. The witchcraft books also record arguments that affected people accused and prosecuted in early modern Europe.
01 · Late antique traditions; surviving copies varyTestament of Solomon: Summary, Demons and ManuscriptsExplore the demon interviews attributed to Solomon, their manuscript history, and their distance from the later Ars Goetia.02 · Sixteenth-century section in a composite manuscriptLivre des Esperitz: A French Spirit CatalogueRead the Livre des Esperitz through its Cambridge shelfmark, names, ranks, and adjacent conjuration text rather than a modernized list alone.03 · Published as an appendix in 1577Pseudomonarchia Daemonum: Weyer’s Demon ListWhy Johann Weyer printed a demon catalogue while criticizing magical claims, and how later readers reused it.04 · Fifteenth-century manuscriptMunich Manual of Demonic Magic: Clm 849The real library object behind the “Munich Manual” name, its mixed contents, and what historians can infer from a surviving ritual book.05 · First printed in London, 1584The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) by Reginald ScotHow a skeptical book preserved descriptions of conjuring and spirits, and why its catalogue should be read in context.06 · First published 1818; expanded editions followedDictionnaire Infernal: Collin de Plancy's Demon BookHow Collin de Plancy’s changing dictionary and later illustrated editions shaped the familiar look of demons online.07 · First printed c. 1487; 1494 witness shownMalleus Maleficarum: Summary, Authors and HistoryRead the Malleus as an argument for witch prosecution, with its edition history, disputed authorship, and human consequences in view.08 · Manuscript c. 1592; print 1597 and 1603Daemonologie by King James: Summary and HistoryFollow James VI’s witchcraft dialogue from a corrected manuscript to its 1603 London edition, and read its claims in their political setting.09 · Scot 1584; James 1597; later print 1603Scot and Daemonologie: Two Arguments About WitchcraftCompare Scot’s skeptical Discoverie with James VI’s Daemonologie through their surviving books, claims, and treatment of accused people.
For the list behind the later Goetia, browse The Offices of Spirits: Texts Behind the Goetia, including the Book of Oberon and the 69/72 entry comparison.
Continue with the 72 Ars Goetia profiles, the seal history guide, and the grimoire witness bibliography.