Early Modern Witches: Witchcraft Cases in Contemporary Writing

Description

The sixteen pamphlets collected here describe fifteen English witchcraft cases in detail, vividly recreating events to give the reader the illusion of actually being present at witchcraft accusations, trials and hangings. But how much are we, as readers, victims of literary manipulation by the authors of these texts, and by accusers, magistrates and witches themselves? The pamphlets' texts are presented in an annotated format, so as to allow the reader to decide. Some of the pamphlets collected here appear in print for the first time in three centuries, whilst others are newly edited to give a clearer picture of sources, generic developments in writing about witchcraft, the chronologies of cases, and the biographies of the people who are trying to tell us their stories. The book will be of use and fascination to anyone interested in witchcraft, cultural history or literature. It combines original spelling editions of popular texts with scholarly annotation, and there are sections on further reading and sources for students as well as an introduction to each pamphlet.

'Gibson is to be congratulated on bringing together these materials together, and on the skill, scholarship and insights she has brought to bear on them.' - James Sharpe, Continuity and Change, vol. 17 2, 2002