Kiersten Brown
Professor Pressman
ECL 596
12/14/25
The importance of design
De Magorum Daemonomania uses its material and visual technologies– its blackletter typeface and authoritative printing style– to convey a false sense of credibility and institutional authority. The book’s typography and format create this false illusion of legal structure, legal scholarship, and legal format. This aspect of legal formatting functions as a tool of persuasion, that is aimed at legal scholars and people with positions of power, in order to prosecute feared witches and demons of the time this was published. The authoritative formatting of this book changes the tone of the text, as well as who was most likely reading this book. In this sense, De Magorum Daemonomania exemplifies how early modern print culture could manufacture cultural belief—and cultural fear—through design. Design is more important than we think, and De Magorum Daemonomania does a good job demonstrating this. These factors affected the interpretation of the book and how those in Early Medieval Europe were reading De Magorum Daemonomania in relation to the current social climate.
Translated from French into German by Johann Fischart. Both of these people were notable figures of the time, Jobin a notable printer and Fischart a notable translator of texts. The original author was Jean Bodin, who was a French jurist and philosopher as well as a member of the Parlement of Paris. This book has the Roman numerals D. M. LXXXI where the preface is, translating to 1581 and perhaps when the translation was first written or being worked on- so this copy was published in 1594. He was a very influential author of demonology during the late 1500s, which is reflected in the text of De magorum daemonomania, citing many other jurists and philosophers during this time. Jean Bodin was an important political thinker during the 1500s. Although, witchcraft and demonology was an afterthought for him, his main focus being on political economy and sovereignty. This book was still prominent enough to have a translation. I believe the text functioned as a reference guide for those responsible with dealing and prosecuting the supernatural or demons, within religious or legal fields. Although, I am sure that De Magorum daemonomania shaped cultural fear in one way or the other surrounding demons and witchcraft. The work’s authoritative textual style with blackletter type, systematic and lawful reasoning, and visual style projected the image of credibility: providing justification for prosecuting or fear of demons. Bodin’s status as a jurist in society also definitely influenced who was reading this book and why it was seen as a scholarly source– it was deliberately a rhetorical strategy.
When reading Borsuk’s The Book, I found her discussion of the book as an interface important when thinking about De Magorum Daemonomania. “It is, essentially, an interface through which we encounter ideas. Its materiality need have no bearing on its content, yet whenever we hold a codex book, we are subconsciously drawing on a history of physical and embodied interaction that has taught us to recognize and manipulate it” (Borsuk, 116). This discussion supports the idea that De Magorum Daemonomania uses its interface as a form of authority that readers take into consideration when reading and interpreting a text. Borsuk’s framing here helps explain how this book’s interface, specifically its physical form and typography, was so successful in creating this false sense of legality. This book’s visual technology of control– authoritative printing style– gave readers a false sense of credibility. Readers did not believe the text was credible just because of its content and argument, but also because of culturally conditioned ideas about what makes a book serious or legitimate. The power of publication and physical presence within this text is what made the text seem reliable and credible as a legal document and point of reference. Authority was performed through the aesthetics of De Magorum Daemonomania as an interface. The book’s design functions as a system of persuasion, which helps shape interpretation and lead to the prosecution of witches and demons. I believe Borsuk’s text exemplifies how early modern print media could shape cultural and societal fears, as well as encourage this violence that was enacted on believed witches and demons of the time.
Furthermore, the physicality and format of this text creates a false sense of judicial authority. This text is incomprehensible to me, hence the language being in German, but with translations and analysis of the format of the book I gathered that this text is about demons, witches, sorcerers, and other cursed or “unholy spirits” – and how to prosecute them. Thousands of innocent people were prosecuted and wrongly killed during this time in the 1500s (and after) as there was a lot of fear and superstition surrounding these witches and devils. This book was used as a guideline for lawmakers on how to prosecute these “devil-mongers” and how they were to be investigated and prosecuted. Most of the book seemed to contain prosecution laws, hunting tactics, doctors studies on these creatures, and other cited texts and studies that involved demons of the time. Although the De Magorum daemonomania was not a formal legal code, its juristical format made it function as one. It seems like it was a guideline for jurists and prosecutors, its reasoning and citation of real laws blurs the line between law and superstition. This made the theology of De Magorum daemonomania feel like a real legal framework for the prosecution of innocent people. Its format makes it look less as a theology and more of a law manual, its methodical chapters and marginalia citing legal precedents giving it credibility. It seems to be imitating not only law and credibility, but also justifying the persecution of innocent people who are believed to be devil-mongers. It justifies people being cross-examined as devils, witches, and demons within judicial law. De Magorum daemonomania judicial format matters because it created rationale for conviction, this book circulated reasoning for law makers and others to actually convict people for these “crimes.” The format is problematic for this reason, as it mimics the format of actual legal decisions and laws in order to mimic credibility.
Although the De Magorum daemonomania was not a formal legal code, its juristical format made it function as one. Its format functions as an interface of false authority and power, like I mentioned with Borsuk above, we encounter ideas through the interface. Subconsciously we draw from the interface when creating our own interpretation of the text. “A good interface, according to human-centered design principles, is like Warde’s crystal goblet: a transparent vessel through which we access the information we want. This invisibility may be marketed as utility, but it is not necessarily in our best interest” (Borsuk, 116). De Magorum daemonomania functions as this crystal goblet– which can blind the reader by simply interpreting the format of the book, its interface. This book seems like it was a guideline for jurists and prosecutors, its reasoning and citation of real laws blurs the line between law and superstition. This made the theology of De Magorum daemonomania feel like a real legal framework for the prosecution of innocent people. Its format makes it look less as a theology and more of a law manual, its methodical chapters and marginalia citing legal precedents giving it credibility. It seems to be imitating not only law and credibility, but also justifying the persecution of innocent people who are believed to be devil-mongers. It justifies people being cross-examined as devils, witches, and demons within judicial law. De Magorum daemonomania judicial format matters because it created rationale for conviction, this book circulated reasoning for law makers and others to actually convict people for these “crimes.” The format is problematic for this reason, as it mimics the format of actual legal decisions and laws in order to mimic credibility. “We are not generally accustomed to think of the book as a material metaphor, but in fact it is an artifact whose physical properties and historical usages structure our interactions with it in ways obvious and subtle” (N. Katherine Hyles, Borsuk, 118).
The interface of De Magorum daemonomania is very important to its history, as is its blackletter typeface. The dark and heavy Blackletter type gave a commanding tone of credibility and power. In this sense, the design of the typeface reinforces the book’s ideological intent of seeming credible and knowledgeable. Dense strokes, sharp angles, and tightly packed paragraphs/lines are what gives Blackletter type this commanding tone that signals institutional authority. The design of this typeface was utilized to match the book’s ideological message about witches and demons– and reinforce it. Blackletter type has long been associated with theological, legal, and scholarly studies, its appearance in De Magorum daemonomania visually situates this book as reliable and powerful. The message this book conveys being reinforced by its typeface that structures the book’s argument. It works as a device to shape how readers perceive the text, before actually engaging with it. Blackletter type was the national type in Germany before the Nazi’s banned it in 1941 and replaced it. This ties into how deeply Blackletter type has been associated with questions of power, traditions, and authority. Within Bodin’s writing the typeface sought to legitimize his theological ideas and superstitions about demons and witches of the time. “The rules of typography are largely ancient maxims with very little, if any, empiricism to support them. They are a form of “craftlore,” practitioners’ lore, supported by intuition but lacking a theoretical and empirical foundation” (Brumberger, 1). Typography is not a legitimate point of authority, but the blackletter type was crafted in this way by Bodin and his publisher of De Magorum daemonomania. This study by Brumberger also clarified how people are affected by typefaces when reading, and how it changes the way the approach and process the text itself. “The data from studies 1 and 2 provide strong evidence that readers do consistently ascribe particular personality attributes to particular typefaces and text passages. The typefaces and texts used in the project separated into clear categories according to their personas, and the differences were substantial … .the data supports theoretical perspectives that suggest carrying connotations” (Brumberger, 16). This study documented how different texts were interpreted– and dark/bolder texts were met with more authoritative writings than the lighter types. The design of the typeface in De Magorum daemonomania is purposeful, as the reader is supposed to interpret the text in a scholarly tone. All together, these ideas about design history, typography, and the texts I read reveal how the Blackletter functions as an argument. Blackletter is used to perform authority within the text– convincing readers through its physical attributes as well as its words– that demonology is scholarly with legal discipline.
Typography is important to the context of De Magorum daemonomania because of its “voices” that speak on behalf of the text and shape the way the reader understands the words. This idea is discussed by typography historian Robert Bringhurst. Blackletters “voice” is associated with medieval manuscripts, in forms like fraktur and textura, as the dominant typography of documents like legal codes, religious treaties, monastic manuscripts, and other academic texts of the time. As this typeface evolved into visual form, as we see in De Magorum daemonomania, this form became linked to institutions of scholarly and academic works. Blackletter had been adopted with early printers because of this idea that the aesthetic of these words created a sense of trust and establishment– books with the print appearing academic. During the time De Magorum daemonomania was printed, Blackletter still carried these connotations of scholastic legitimacy and seriousness, furthering the claim of authority it held. This typographic heritage and history reinforces Jean Bodin’s attempt to present demonology as a credible discipline grounded in scholarly and academic studies. The typeface makes this book look less like speculative theology and more like an official legal manual that should be trusted and referenced in legal cases. Blackletter was not just a typographic style but an ideological symbol. It attempts to anchor the text within institutional authority and scholarly reference, in order to be recognizable to early modern readers as correct. Bodin created this authoritative text and utilized blackletter type to assert this powerful tone the text created.
As I have said before, the interface and format of De Magorum daemonomania is important for its interpretation, the printed marginalia emphasising this. Within the book I noticed how many pages and sections of it had printed marginalia– either sourcing or giving further clarification on a topic (according to google translate). This adds another layer to the authoritative formatting that this book gives off. This signals authority to the reader, and even if someone like me is not able to read the text, the marginalia gives the illusion of legal power and knowledge. Marginal notes printed in books lent a form of interpretive authority — reinforcing how “official” texts could embed guidance and claims beyond the main text. By analogy, a demonological or legal text with marginal glosses would likely have similar authority. “The script enabled the humanists to display a connection with those whom they considered their intellectual forebearers. In proposing this link with classical scholars and scholarship, the humanists hoped to add a sense of authority to their own work” (Mak, 23). When reading How The Page Matters by Bonnie Mak, I got a deeper understanding of how people used marginalia to link scholars or “reputable” sources to display themselves as figures of intellect. By referencing and creating associations with texts from notable figures or scholars of the time– within the marginalia of De Magorum daemonomania– emphasized the legitimacy that the authors wanted to give off. By having associations from notable people or texts of the time, De Magorum daemonomania was able to securely establish themselves as scholars and people of intellectual knowledge. No matter if they truly believed that the information they were stating about witches and demons were true, they facilitated the format and marginalia to create the interpretations that they wanted. It was not decorative, flashy, or colorful- adding another layer to its assertive tone. This is a book meant to be handled, cited, and consulted– not used as a decorative piece. During the 1500s this book helped give superstition institutional stability and credibility among political figures. Being a printed demonological work, by writing these thoughts down it created a legitimate notion that demons existed, and that legal action needed to be taken against these creatures. Presenting these ideas in a legal format or manual style, it taught and guided readers what to think about when punishing or persecuting innocent people.
Ultimately, De Magorum Daemonomania is more than an old book- it’s a reminder of how design, format, language, can all intersect to justify persecution. Jean Bodin’s text blurred the line between theological beliefs and actual fact and/or law. His work was one of the many during this time that created credible superstition. His judicial and scholarly tone, Blackletter typeface, methodical marginalia all came together to create credibility. With these designs and presentation, De Magorum Daemonomania transformed the fear of the time into institutional authority. I found this book so interesting because of the way it weaponized theological beliefs about witches and demons, and gave it an authoritative tone. As I took information from Mak, Borsuk, and other historians of typography and the interface, I found this to hold true– that marginalia, font, and physical aspects of a book play an important role when reading. Reading a book is not just about the words on the page, but also the format, design, and other physical aspects of a book that change the way we read and interpret them. De Magorum Daemonomania was designed to create a scholarly tone, when really it was nothing more than theological ideas and superstition. I think it’s important to think about this, even though this was written in the 1500s, does not mean this sort of manipulation is not present today. The physical form of the book gave the content credibility, and gave powerful people the authority to prosecute the innocent. This connection with content and form emphasizes Borsuk’s claim that the book acts as an interface– that readers engage with more than just the words on the page. Visual materials of the book shape how readers understand the text they are reading and consuming, whether or not they realize. In De Magorum Daemonomania we see this reflected with the typography of the text, the marginilia, format, and other physical attributes. This goes for books today as well, visual presentation and form matters within the interpretation of the book itself. Font, layout, book art, and more are all things I look at when reading a book. I am not just reading and interpreting the words but also the format of the book. I never thought about these aspects of reading until this class, and am grateful to have had the opportunity to do so. I have learned a lot throughout the course of this semester, and now I realize the importance of the book as an object just as much as its content, both come hand in hand to shape the book. De Magorum Daemonomania shows how these things mattered to readers back then, just as much as it matters to readers now.
Works Cited
Bodin, Jean. De Magorum Daemonomania. Translated by Johann Fischart, Bernhart Jobin, 1594.
Lindfors , Tommi. “Jean Bodin.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iep.utm.edu/jean-bodin/ Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
Guimon, Katy. “Johann Fischart: Research Starters: EBSCO Research.” EBSCO, 2023, www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/johann-fischart.
Behringer, Wolfgang. “Demonology, 1500–1660 (Chapter 22) – the Cambridge History of Christianity.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 2008, www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-christianity/demonology-15001660/1C9CAEA1E975FA528959F3A88D500438.
Mak, Bonnie. How the Page Matters. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Brumberger, Eva R. “The Rhetoric of Typography: The Persona of Typeface and Text.” Technical Communication, vol. 50, no. 2, 2003, pp. 206-223. ProQuest, http://libproxy.sdsu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/rhetoric-typography-persona-typeface-text/docview/220988793/se-2.
Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. Hartley & Marks Publishers, 2004.