Vade mecum praestigio practicum seu methodus benedictionum et exorcismorum contra maleficia et praestigia

?Germany, 1706. Manuscript in brown ink on paper in Latin and German written in two highly legible secretary hands by one scribe (one for Latin and one for German), single- and double-column, 27 lines to a full page. Contemporary blind-ruled black morocco, red edges. Authorial inscription on the pastedown dated 1706, ex-libris inscription on the title verso “J.M. Herré Presbyt. 1802.” In excellent condition. A unique and curious manuscript manual for pharmaceutical exorcisms, highlighting a pivotal moment in Enlightenment Era Europe when scientific innovation collided with deeply rooted religious traditions. Divided into four parts, the first and longest section of the text provides the necessary incantations, psalms, and prayers for exorcising evil spirits and putting protections over the body and home. It lists specific saints to invoke for assistance and biblical excerpts to read in different situations. It also includes recipes for holy water, talismanic salt, and anointing oil, as well as holy baths for dunking witches, purgatives for vomiting up demons, and potions for expelling evil spirits from the house. The recipes for holy water differ according to the intended use: menstruating women, plague victims, gardens, and building foundations. There are also illustrated instructions for making cross talismans.

The second part of the manuscript is more proscriptive, listing practical instructions for conducting exorcisms and equipment necessary, such as vessels, herbs, and fire. It is about setting the stage for the ceremony: arranging furniture, restraining the cursed victim, administering medications and ointments, and creating cleansing smoke. It includes numerous recipes for pharmaceutical implements which are written in German (as opposed to Latin for the clerical text), presumably because the compounds would be prepared by a layman pharmacist or healer who did not read Latin and because the recipes incorporate contemporary metals and plants that did not have Latin names. The section concludes with an alphabetic glossary of pharmaceutical terms with their definitions in Latin.

The third part focuses specifically on exorcising demons sent by Satan. The text describes the steps to identify a demonic possession and invoke the help of angels to expel it. The final section comprises an alphabetic materia medica sorted according to ailment. Each entry lists ingredients for medications to treat the illness incorporating pharmaceutical symbols for amounts and dosage. As with the previous section, the directions for mixing the compounds are written in German. The manuscript concludes with two alphabetic indices—one for prayers and exorcisms, the other for medicine.
It is perhaps worth note that this bookseller has handled dozens of grimoires that were placed on the Index of banned books and used as evidence to convict healers of witchcraft, and I find few differences between those texts and this manuscript. This text demonstrates how the essential elements of faith and medicine were at play in very similar ways both within the Church and in the communities of its supposed enemies.