Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

“Bernard Rosenthal and his exceptionally talented, international team of associate editors have produced the most comprehensive and carefully edited collection of legal documents from the Salem witch trials ever published. Unlike the three-volume collection of The Salem Witchcraft Papers, edited by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, who used the typescript prepared by the Works Progress Administration during the New Deal, the Rosenthal team has gone back to the original manuscripts and, in the process, corrected a number of serious errors of transcription. They have included more than thirty new documents either never published before or only printed in part. Unlike the earlier compilations that followed the practice of seventeenth-century courts in organizing the documents on a case-by-case basis in alphabetical order, this volume proceeds in chronological order, which permits the user to see on any given day how the larger crisis unfolded and how accusations against the victims were interrelated. Noting that scholars have disagreed sharply about the trials, Rosenthal declares that ‘This edition will not settle these differences, but if it succeeds it will give the reader the most comprehensive, most carefully and consistently transcribed record ever produced of the Salem witch trials, as well as a chronological ordering of the documents.’ His team has achieved this extraordinary goal.” -John Murrin, Princeton University

“Bernard Rosenthal and his international editorial team have produced an extraordinarily useful new edition of the Salem witch-trial records. Notable not only for its accurate transcriptions and revelatory chronological organization but also for its helpful general introductions and detailed annotations of individual documents, this volume will open new realms of inquiry to scholars and interested non-specialists alike. A truly remarkable editing achievement, it signals a great step forward in witchcraft studies.” -Mary Beth Norton, author of In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

“Few events of American history continue to grip our imagination as does the Salem witchcraft outbreak of 1692. This monumental new work of collaborative historical scholarship presents nearly a thousand legal documents relating to that outbreak, freshly edited with scrupulous care and introduced with a series of helpful essays. In this definitive assemblage of the episode’s legal records, human anguish, terror, confusion, and grim certitude constantly break through the legalese. Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt will be welcomed not only by legal scholars, linguists, American Colonial historians, and students of witchcraft, but by all who continue to be drawn to the dark events that unfolded in a New England village more than three centuries ago.” -Paul Boyer, Co-author with Stephen Nissenbaum of Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft.

“The Salem witch trials of 1692-1693 have fascinated scholars and the general public for generations, and this work will surely stimulate that interest. Editor Rosenthal and his associates have assembled in one volume all the known legal documents that are relevant to the trials….The arrangement of the documents in chronological order helps readers understand the sweep of the Salem witch episode. A comprehensive name index and biographical notes should prove helpful to readers interested in a case-study approach….This volume supplants The Salem Witchcraft Papers (1977)….Extensive notes and an excellent bibliography enhance the worth of this work, which belongs in all major public and university libraries. Summing Up: Essential.” -Choice

“The witch trials held in Salem, Mass., in 1692 are among the major mythic experiences of the American psyche….These records are essential for any genealogist interested in northern New England. They provide explicit statements of relationships not found in other primary sources, as well as evidence from which scholars may infer the possibility of other family connections….This is a publication of the greatest significance that should be obtained by any individual and library interested in colonial New England and its history and geography.” -The American Genealogist