The Discoverie of Witchcraft

Number 494 of a limited edition of 1275 copies. Finely printed facsimile of the first edition, quarter dark red morocco over green cloth, t.e.g., printed on Dutch mould-made paper with the original woodcuts. Gilt top edge. Small folio. Near fine. Scot committed a daring act in publishing The Discovorie of Witchcraft, which notwithstanding its content was, as H. Adrian Smith noted, "itself a heresy" as he did so without the approval of a bishop. Expecting the work would be censored should it appear before a bishop, Smith continued, "He took the full responsibility and blame on his own shoulders and had the book printed himself in 1584. No stationer's name appeared in it, the printer's name appeared only at the end of the book, without date or place of address. Recent scholarship has provided further clarity, with the histiorian Simon During noting that the printer, William Brome, was a dealer in conjuring devices and blow books in St. Paul's Curchyard, and that these "connections with the magic trade enabled [Scot] to present the conjuring practices of his time in unprecedented profusion."