Before posting, I searched this sub for "demonology" and "witch hunt" and I also checked the Popular Questions wiki on witchcraft. I think I'm in the clear. I did give a best effort to not waste anyone's time, at any rate! I also acknowledge that "culturally significant" might be a clumsy way to put what I'm asking, and that's because I'm not sure how to phrase what I'm asking. I think that I'm looking for academically reputable texts from the time period. I'm guessing there are some duds, and not being a historian myself, I don't know enough to identify them.
I'm hoping this could help curate my own collection. Ever since I signed out Rossell Hope Robbins' Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology from my high school library in the early 90s, I've held a sustained interest in the topic and I've accumulated these books along the way. Unfortunately I'm limited to works that have been written in or translated to English, otherwise they'd just be shelf decoration:
1487 - Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches) by Heinrich Kramer, translated to English by Montague Summers, published 1971 by Dover copying John Rodker's 1928 printing, rebound to hardcover by Peter Smith
1563 - De praestigiis daemonum (On the Tricks of Demons) by Johann Weyer, translated to English by John Shea, published 1991 by Medieval & Rennaisance Texts & Studies
1563 - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (The False Monarchy of Demons) by Johann Weyer, translated to English by Natalia Zasadzinska, published 2016 by Abracax House
1584 - The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot, published 1995 by Richard Kaufman and Alan Greenberg copying John Rodker's 1930 printing
1590 - An Examen of Witches by Henry Bouget, translated to English by E. Allen Ashwin, published 1929 by John Rodker
1595 - Demonolatry by Nicolas Remy, translated to English by E. Allen Ashwin, published 1974 by University Books, Inc
1597 - Daemonologie by King James VI of Scotland, published 2013 by Ouroboros Press
1608 - Compendium Maleficarum by Francesco Maria Guazzo, translated to English by E. Allen Ashwin, published 1974 by University Books, Inc
1680 - A Discovery of the Impostures of Witches and Astrologers by John Brinley, published 2015 by Troy Books
1681 - Saducismus Triumphatus or Full and plain evidence concerning witches and apparitions by Joseph Glanvill, published 1966 by Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints
Are there any clunkers in this list from a historian's perspective? How about notable absences?
A few questions:
Is there academic consensus that Christopher Mackay's translation of Malleus Maleficarum is more accurate than Montague Summers'? I understand Montague was a... colorful character.
Is there an English translation of the fifth book from Formicarius (The Ant Hill) by Johannes Nider, and does this fifth book have its own name?
Is there an English translation of the fifth book from Fortalitium Fidei (Fortress of the Faith) by Alphonso de Spina? I'm pretty sure it's called De bello demonum contra fidei fortalicum but I've also seen it listed as contra demons?
Everywhere I've read, it is said that Fortalitium Fidei is the first book on witchcraft with Formicarius being the second, but when I look at the years they were written, it seems the opposite. I show Formicarius being published in 1437 and Fortalitium Fidei being published in 1470. Is anyone in a position to clear this up?
Finally, these books are on my list. If you've read them, would you recommend them?
1460 - Invectives contre la secte de vauderie (Invectives Against the Sect of Waldensians) by Johannes Tinctor, translated to English by Andrew Gow, published 2016 by Penn State University Press [note: also older than Fortalitium Fidei, I think? I hear this one specifically makes mention of witches riding brooms.]
1580 - De la démonomanie des sorciers (On the Demon-Mania of Witches) by Jean Bodin, translated to English by Randy A. Scott, published 1995 by the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies. Reviews talk about this one being wildly popular for its time.
Speaking of which, I appreciate your time! Thanks for reading all this. I tried to format out the wall of text as best I could.
I can help with some of your questions!
There is no complete translation of the Formicarius. There is a partial translation of book 5, which I assume you have found online. Michael Bailey, Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, and Reform remains the only major English-language study. There is also a collection of essays in (modern) German, if you are interested.
At least in the facsimile scan I have, book 5 is titled "De maleficis et eorum deceptionibus." I actually don't know if that is Nider's original or was added by the publisher. This is really just like a chapter title, though--not necessarily something you would use unless it circulated on its own (in which case the excerpt might get a different title altogether. Early print has few rules and manuscript has fewer).
The Malleus maleficarum rips off sections of Nider wholesale, so there is also that.
There is--to my knowledge, at least--no translation of the Fortress of Faith. Anna Echevarria discusses the text in, well, Fortress of Faith, but it is neither the focus of the book, the point of the book, or discussed for its comments on witches.
Where is "everywhere" you have read? Formicarius is older than Fortress of Faith. The problem you're running into--which should not be an issue in scholarship--is that the dates are not comparable.
Formicarius was written in 1437 and 1438. It was first printed in 1475.
Fortress of Faith was written in 1458-1461. It was first printed in 1470.
"Everywhere" saying Fortress is older is comparing print dates, which is neither the date of writing nor (obviously) the date of first circulation, in manuscript.
...That said, Formicarius is still not necessarily the first book on witchcraft. The 1430s saw kind of a bubbling of short texts, or more likely parts of larger texts (a la Nider), that brushed up against the subject of witches. And prior to that, you can see people labeled/texts discussing "heretics" that are proto-witches. (Not just in the sense that witchcraft is the crime of heresy--there is not the word "witch" here yet).
But he is usually considered the first major author--both in terms of the impact of his text, and in terms of his status. Nider was a big shot.
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In my early modern theology class, we read excerpts from the Mathers' writing, which is to say, Salem-era Massachusetts. For Increase, we read excerpts from Remarkable Providences, which relates some witch stories and some most excellent ghost stories. For Cotton, we read some of Wonders of the Invisible World, which includes his defense of the Salem trials. These should be available pretty freely online--you can choose your preferred formatting (Gutenberg, archive.org, &c).
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When you say "academically significant," do you mean modern academia, or medieval/early modern academics? Most scholars today would agree that normative texts by educated authors like these are important, but would also point to the need to look at trial records or more local parish/diocese level attempts at texts.
If you are interested in something like that, I'd recommend starting with some anthologies of text excerpts/bits and bobs of court records/etc. Brian Levack's The Witchcraft Sourcebook is a good one, and includes excerpts from several of the texts you mentioned above.
The other good one to start with is The Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyteler (1324), ed. Ward and Davidson. The testimony in this trial, although polished after the fact by the clerical writer, is striking for its resemblance to later ideas of witchcraft.
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I'm not confident enough in my knowledge of the modern scholarship to judge "importance" of the other texts, sorry! I hope this is helpful regardless.