SOURCE: "The Making of the Historia von D. Johann Fausten: The Trial of Faustus: The Legacy of Witches and Learned Magicians," and "The Making of the Historia von D. Johann Fausten: The Contributions of Johann Spies to the Historia," in his Faustus on Trial: The Origins of Johann Spies's "Historia" in an Age of Witch Hunting, Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1992, pp. 110-46, 157-68.

In the following excerpts, Baron reads the 1587 Historia as a text primarily concerned with the mid-sixteenth-century debate concerning witchcraft and with the struggles between opposing religious factions. He also presents evidence suggesting that Johann Spies may have been more than just the chapbook's printer.

Gi; the Trial of Faustus: the Legacy of Witches and Learned Magicians =~ Sthe Trial of Faustus: the Legacy of Witches and Learned Magicians

Johannes Manlius presented the violent death of Faustus at the devil's hands as early as 1562, stressing the horrible fate...