Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A Documentary History, 1638-1693

by David D. Hall

Book Overview

This superb documentary collection illuminates the history of witchcraft and witch-hunting in seventeenth-century New England. The cases examined begin in 1638, extend to the Salem outbreak in 1692, and document for the first time the extensive Stamford-Fairfield, Connecticut, witch-hunt of 1692-1693. Here one encounters witch-hunts through the eyes of those who participated in them: the accusers, the victims, the judges. The original texts tell in...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1555530850
• ISBN13: 9781555530853
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Northeastern University Press
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Essential Reading

Sometimes it's forgotten that the witchcraft trials in Salem Village in 1692 were more the climax than the beginning of such happenings in 17th c. New England. In this excellent collection of hard-to-find documentary materials, David D. Hall covers the phenomenon from its first stirrings to the hysteria of 1692. In the process of persuing these materials, the reader realizes how widespread and complicated the situation was. After reading this book, you may not have many answers as to why the witchcraft persecutions happened when and where they did, but you will have a much better appreciation of what actually happened. Good accompanying reading: _Entertaining Satan_ by John Putnam Demos.