Testimonies on Witchcraft & Demonology

A three-volume set gathering key texts from the witch-hunting tradition, from the Scottish court of James VI to Cotton Mather’s Salem and the East Anglian trials of the Witchfinder General.

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1

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The three volumes

I. Dæmonologie & Newes from Scotland

Two texts by and concerning King James VI of Scotland, whose part in the North Berwick trials of 1590 shaped how witchcraft was prosecuted in Britain. Newes from Scotland (1591) reports the trials and the alleged conspiracy against the King; Dæmonologie (1597) is James’s own treatise, written as a dialogue, giving royal sanction to the logic the Malleus had codified a century earlier.

II. Wonders of the Invisible World

Written in 1692 and published the following year, Cotton Mather’s account was intended as a defence of the Salem proceedings. It gathers trial records, theological argument and accounts of the accused, and remains one of the fullest contemporary records of Salem from the prosecution’s side.

III. The Discovery of Witches & A Confirmation and Discovery of Witch-craft

Matthew Hopkins’s The Discovery of Witches (1647) and John Stearne’s companion Confirmation (1648) set out the methods, justifications and procedures of the East Anglian trials of the 1640s. Hopkins, the self-styled Witchfinder General, was the central figure in the largest wave of witchcraft prosecutions in English history.

The work

Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a body of printed literature gave witch-hunting its intellectual and procedural form. This three-volume set gathers some of its most important texts, from the Scottish court of James VI to Cotton Mather's Salem and the East Anglian trials of the Witchfinder General.

The interior

Volume I presents James VI's Daemonologie with the Newes from Scotland pamphlet. Volume II gathers Cotton Mather's Wonders of the Invisible World, written in defence of the Salem proceedings. Volume III collects Matthew Hopkins's The Discovery of Witches with John Stearne's Confirmation. Each volume is newly typeset in the manner of its earliest printing, with title pages, woodcuts and printer's devices restored from historical copies.

The binding

A5 format, Smyth-sewn and round-backed on Fedrigoni Arena Ivory 120 gsm, bound in cloth over 2 mm boards with gold foil on the front cover and spine. The three volumes are housed together in a gold-foiled cloth slipcase and sold as a set.

Questions

Can the volumes be bought separately?

No. The three volumes are sold as a set only.

When will the set be available?

The set is in production. Sign up to our newsletter to be notified the moment it goes on sale.

Shipping & delivery

North American orders ship from our US warehouse in Michigan; European orders from our German warehouse. Standard delivery takes 5 to 14 business days, tracked. Tax is included; shipping is calculated at checkout.

Returns

We offer a 14-day return policy for unopened items in original packaging. Please contact us before returning any item.