LAVATER, Ludwig (1527-86). De spectris, lemuribus et magnis atque insolitis fragoribus, Leiden, 1659, 12mo, engraved title, contemporary vellum. This influential work on ghosts and demons was first published in German in 1569.

LAVATER, Ludwig (1527-86).  De spectris, lemuribus et magnis atque insolitis fragoribus, variisque præsagitionibus, quæ plerunlque obicum hominum, magnas clades, mutationesque Imperiorum prcedunt. Liber unus. In tres partes distributus. Leiden: "Apud Henricum Verbiest." 1659. 12mo (129 x 74mm). Additional engraved pictorial title depicting various demonic creatures and a witch stirring a cauldron, woodcut initials and typographical ornaments (corners of engraved title torn away without loss, some light mainly marginal staining and spotting to both titles and elsewhere, a few darker spots or small stains). Contemporary full vellum, with the title in old manuscript on the spine (later endpapers). First published in German in Leiden in 1569, this work by a Swiss Reformed theologian was one of the most important published on ghosts and demons in the Reformation era and was highly influential on Elizabethan and later literature. The first English edition appeared in 1572, and is often cited as a probable source for Shakespeare's "Hamlet". cf. Brunet III, 63-64 (citing the editions of 1683 and 1687): "Trois livres [i.e. parts] des apparitions des esprits, fantômes, prodiges et accidents merveilleuz"; cf. Caillet II, 6237: "Livre curieux et rare sur les spectres, lémures etc., dûs aux démons, les apparitions des fantômes, des esprits diaboliques et familiers et les accidents merveilleux qui précdent souvent la mort et la suivant quelquefois"; Graesse pp.81 & 134; Rosenthal 1885; Thorndike History of Magic and Experimental Science VI, 530-32.