Arbatel de magia veterum

Record summary

The Arbatel de magia veterum, printed at Basel in 1575, is a compact Latin work centered on “Olympian” spirits, virtues, prayers, aphorisms, and a relatively restrained form of Christian magic. It is important for comparison because it differs in tone from coercive demonological grimoires and illustrates how Renaissance occult authors could frame spiritual operations as morally disciplined wisdom. The author remains uncertain, and the work’s title, printing context, and relationship to earlier magical literature require bibliographic checking rather than assumptions based on later occult editions.