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Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare sample view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
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  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare sample view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare image from the book of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare illustrated detail of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare example image of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare sample view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare sample view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare image from the book of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare detail view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare interesting detail of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare sample view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare image from the book of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare illustrated detail of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare example image of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare sample view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare sample view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare image from the book of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare detail view of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
  • Arte Magica Annichilata by Maffei, Francesco Scipione, a rare interesting detail of the 1754 - curiosa & occulta book.
Arte Magica Annichilata

Rare 1754 treatise, Maffei’s reasoned reply to witchcraft panic and a pointed rejoinder to Tartarotti.

Maffei, Francesco Scipione

Arte Magica Annichilata
Libri Tre. Con Un'Appendice.

1754, Verona, Antonio Andreoni

First edition

$700 USD

Overview

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.

Inside the book

The preface frames the treatise as a defense against superstition, written in opposition to Tartarotti’s Apologia del Congresso Notturno delle Lammie (1749). In that work, Tartarotti argued that witchcraft was an organized religion descended from the Roman cults of Diana and Erodiade, a thesis so controversial that it drew the attention of the Venetian Inquisition.
This rebuttal dismantles such claims, emphasizing that witchcraft beliefs were illusory and destructive, leading to unjust trials and the persecution of women for imaginary crimes. Its systematic structure dismantles “proofs” for magic across philosophy, history, and scripture: refutes the existence of magic, sorcery, pacts with demons, and misuses of patristic sources, challenges arguments based on classical authorities, including Greek historians, poets, Pliny, and Platonic philosophers, uses Biblical and theological reasoning, addressing figures such as Pharaoh’s magicians, Simon Magus, and the Witch of Endor, alongside New Testament references and demonological traditions. Maffei in the appendix responds to critics point by point, particularly on disputed quotations attributed to St. Jerome, and engages adversaries such as Tartarotti directly. The Verona imprint, rather than Venice, suggests a smaller provincial circulation, enhancing its rarity.

Why La Fenice chose it

A bold Enlightenment voice, Maffei skewers superstition with scholarly flair, clashing head-on with Tartarotti in a duel of footnotes and fury.
Condition Report

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.

Dimensions (inches): 10 x 7.5 x 1
About the author

Francesco Scipione Maffei (1675–1755), Veronese antiquarian, playwright, and scholar, noted for works on history, art, and classical antiquity.

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