This scholarly archive includes writings that delve into the early modern principles of natural and occult philosophy from the eighteenth century. Scholars sought to explain the various strange phenomena depicted within actual reports of vampirism that were made public. To understand the strange phenomena associated with these events, academics, physicians, theologians, and even alchemists, all debated and argued upon miracles, the spirit world, the effects of magic, demons, disease, disorder, and the states of human bodily decay. 

Finally, these mysterious and forgotten works are able to be studied in English by a contemporary audience of historians, students, and the general public for the first time in nearly 300 years!

Upon the success of this campaign, these volumes will be specially numbered, signed, Limited, Leather-Bound First Editions of the first English translation of historic writings. These works are 100% Translated and include detailed biographical and contextual introductions. This campaign will fund the printing costs of professional leather-bound first editions. Arrangements have been made to use the same printer and binder that Easton Press uses. The design of each volume includes:

• 5.01″ x 7.81″
• Limited First Editions
• Full leather binding
• Moire end sheets
• Debossed covers
• Attached ribbon book marker
• Raised spine hubs
• Gold foil gilded paper edges
• Hand numbered volumes
• Signed by the Translator
• Biographical & Contextual introductions
• Additional items and perks as each stretch goal is met

Volume 1 – M. Michael Ranft’s Tractate on the Chewing and Smacking of the Dead in Graves (Leipzig, 1734)

– This work is a collection of historical and philosophical dissertations written between 1725 and 1734 as an academic response to the Imperial Reports of vampirism that spread across Europe. Michael Ranft was a magister and deacon who sought to determine whether the phenomena described in the reports of vampires were of a Godly miracle, a demonic witchcraft, or if they fell upon the most hidden coats of natural philosophy. This nearly 300-page work is considered among the most important and comprehensive studies of human decay, disease, and their relation to the occult of the time. He takes on a philosophical approach to apparitions, analyzes cases where the dead were found to eat upon their own burial garments and limbs within the confines of their graves, and investigates the purported animation of the dead and their malignant effect upon the living.

The pages have been formatted in the same likeness as the original to replicate that historic feel

Peppered with additional book plates of photographs, historical portraits, and illustrations

Explanatory footnotes provide additional historical and philosophical context

The most fascinating historical narratives

Volume 2 – This volume contains several alchemical and medical writings upon the reports of vampirism. Including:

• Part 1: Anonymous – Official and Cumbersome Report upon those Vampires or People-Suckers, Which emerged in this and previous years in the Kingdom of Serbia. In Addition to its reasoning, a circular letter of an Officer of the Prince Alexandrian Regiments from Medvedia in Serbia to a famous Doctor to the University. (1732)
• Part 2: Gottlob Henreich Vogt – A Short Reservation on those Official Reports on Account of Vampires or People and Cattle-Suckers, Likewise the Reasoning thereof, come to light in Leipzig regarding the World-Spirit, dispatched to good friends. (1732)
• Part 3: Gottlob Henreich Vogt – The subtle but once again forgotten Third Part of Man, Containing the appended source of many errors, namely the doctrine of those Temperaments, etc. (1732)

– These works are a historical dispute upon the application of alchemist philosophy to the question of vampires reported in the Holy Roman Empire. These writings argue upon the principles of the famed Paracelsus and philosophize upon the concept of the spirit-world, the historical application the humors or temperaments in medicine, and deduce the associated phenomenon in the reports of vampires to a doctrine of qualified poisons.

This collection includes an appendix with other rare extras

Volume 3 – This volume compiles several Medical writings on pathology and autopsy made in response to the imperial reports of vampirism that were made public and after requests for an academic opinion the matter were made from royal and military officials. Including:

W.S.G.E. A Curious and very Miraculous Report on the Recent News in Serbia Presenting Vampires or Blood-Suckers, Derived from authentic news, and accompanied with historical and philosophical reflections. (1732)

– This work is semi-anonymously written from the perspective of a physician who sought to solve the issue of vampirism through his experience in Medicine. His writings heavily cite the famed Michael Alberti, who wrote extensively on early criminal forensics and imaginary diseases. This physician provides annotations upon the narratives and autopsies of the reported vampires, lays out a description of a variety of diseases, and reflects upon the smacking, the bleeding, and incorruptibly of corpses that were recently unearthed.

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Volume 4 – Johann Christoph Harenberg – Sensible and Christian Thoughts upon those Vampires or Bloodsucking Dead, so among the Turks and on the boarders of Serbian Lands to suck the blood of the living men and cattle, accompanied with all sorts of theological, philosophical, and historical notes brought from the realm of spirits. (1733)

– Two highly esteemed nobles deplored Harenberg to write this treatise on vampirism. This work, written by a theologian and educator, delves into the histories of folklore, mythology, and utilizes theological principles to explain the incidents of vampirism, werewolves, witchcraft, and the spirit-world. Harenberg also analyzes the historical use of hallucinogenic plants in both criminal enterprise and religious rituals, with a plethora of narratives that might deduce a reasonable connection to the official reports of vampirism that recently emerged at the time. This famous treatise was even mentioned in LeFanu’s gothic horror novella Carmilla.

Ex Libris Book Plates (All volumes)

Genealogical Table Foldout (Occult)

The Nekyia Foldout (Occult)

The Temperaments Set (Alchemy)

Expertise from the Royal Prussian Society of Sciences on Vampires, 1732 (Medicine)

Plants of The Infamous Powder – Set (Theology)

Imagine being able to unravel the facsimiles of historic maps depicting the actual locations where these officially reported incidents of vampirism occurred. These maps were hand drawn in the same century as the reports depicted in these old texts. My vision is for each volume to include a unique map so the reader can be fully immersed in these fascinating histories. 

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS & REPORTS ON VAMPIRISM

Imagine holding facsimile copies of these imperial reports in your own hands, written by officials and surgeons who visited and investigated the suspected dead and even dissected their bodies to discover and record the signs associated with vampirism. I took a deep dive into the state and regional archives of the various associated locations to acquire and obtain the rights to publish these documents for the first time in history. I have a vision for each volume to come with a unique report: a report detailing the case of Peter Plogojowitz and the various reports associated with Arnold Paole! 

** All Mock-ups subject to change and may differ in appearance in the final physical product**