The Compendium Rarissimum: Late Baroque Demonology, Illustrated Pacts, and the Visual Taxonomy of the Infernal
The Illustrated Theater of the Underworld In the late eighteenth century, as the intellectual light of the Enlightenment spread across Europe, advocating for reason, empirical science, and the dismantling of superstition, a parallel counter-current of gothic fantasy and occult curiosity emerged in the shadows of the printing press. The most visually stunning monument to this counter-current is the manuscript titled Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos Artis hujus Magistros ("A rare summary of the entire Magical Art systematized by the most famous Masters of this Art"), dating to approximately 1775. Held in the Wellcome Collection under the shelfmark WMS 1766 , this German and Latin manuscript represents a radical departure from the traditional textual grimoires of the medieval and Renaissance periods. Physical examination of WMS 1766 reveals it to be a small, pocket-sized book of 31 folios, bound in dark, weathered leather with gold t...