Submitted by Hecate on
One could argue that the Witch truly entered the late medieval popular imagination with the print publication of Molitor's 1489 De Lamiis et Pythonicis Mulieribus ("On Witches and Diviners"). Written as a response and implicit criticism of the fanatical Malleus Maleficarum published only a few years prior, Molitor's work would go on to over 40 editions in the ensuing period of the witch trials making it the most popular demonological textbook of the period. Indeed, its six woodcut images of witches and witchcraft would form the basis for nearly all future such depictions in the western world and still influences us today.
Recommended Readings: Molitor - De Lamiis et Pythonicis Mulieribus - https://archive.org/details/delamiise...
Kieckhefer - Hazards of the Dark Arts - 978-0271078403