Our exclusive Malleus Maleficarum Print is a reproduction of the title page of Malleus Maleficarum, 1669 by Heinrich Institoris (1430-1505). From the collection of New-York Historical, and produced to accompany the exhibition The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning & Reclaiming.
This treatise by German Inquisitor Heinrich Institoris was a bestseller, containing
instructions for finding an legally prosecuting witches, including the use of torture to
obtain confessions and the death penalty as punishment. It signaled out poor, elderly,
unmarried women as the most likely threats to Christian society. Originally published in
1486, this edition would have been in circulation at the time of the Salem trials.
The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming (October 7, 2022 - January 22, 2023) explores how, even after 300 years, Salem’s witch trials remain a defining example of intolerance and injustice in American history. The extraordinary events of 1692-3 led to the deaths of 25 innocent people, the vast majority of whom were women. The exhibition includes tangible fragments from the past that illuminate the real lives of Salem’s residents: those accused of witchcraft, their accusers, and those who defended them against legal charges, risking their own lives and reputations in the process.
