Demonology.- D'Anania (Giovanni Lorenzo)

De natura daemonum, woodcut Aldine device on title, ornaments, M6 slightly torn at gutter, minor staining to a few leaves, contemporary limp vellum, darkened, title inked t spine, joints weak, [ICCU IT\ICCU\RMLE\000996; Adams A-1004; Renouard 1589/6], 8vo, Aldo Manuzio, Venice, 1589.

*** Second edition of a curious early treatise on demonology by the cosmographer and theologian Giovanni Lorenzo D’Anania (1595-1609). Little is known about Anania who was born in Taverna (Calabria) and studied in Naples, where he served as a tutor to the archbishop Mario Carafa. The two books discuss the origin and development of demonology in the pre-classical (Egyptian, Chaldean and Hebrew culture), classical (Platonism) and Christian ages; the nature and behaviour of the demons and the role they have played in history, deceiving humans to sabotage the Divine plan. The work describes the biblical fight between Lucifer and the archangel Michael, Adam and Eve’s original sin, the appearance of Satan in his various manifestations, diabolical possession, exorcisms and natural disasters provoked by demons, such as earthquakes.