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Salem Witchcraft in 1692

A Bibliography

This is a list of sources with historical and other background information on the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. These include electronic sources: Web sites and journal articles available from electronic databases and print sources: journal articles, books and chapters from books. In each section there is a brief description on how to locate these items. If you have a question, need help finding a source or you want to find more resources, please ask a librarian for assistance.

Web Resources

Salem Witchcraft Trials
Includes primary sources--documents and images--relating to the trials of 1692 and an informative introductory essay that recounts events in Salem at the time of the trials. This is part of the Famous American Trials site of Douglas O. Linder at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.
Salem Witchcraft Hysteria: An Original National Geographic Interactive Feature
This interactive site simulates the terrifying experience of being accused of witchcraft in Salem in 1692. After the interactive feature, users can ask questions of historians and view a bibliography. An excellent use of technology to bring history alive.
Salem Witch Museum
This official Web site of the Salem Witch Museum in Salem, Massachusetts includes essays on the hysteria surrounding the trials, a map of the surrounding area, and a tour of the sites from the Salem of 1692 that can still be seen today.
The Salem Witch Trials 1692: A Chronology of Events
A concise and straightforward timeline of the events in Salem surrounding the famous trials, from the first signs of strange behaviors exhibited by Salem girls in January 1692 to the final trials in May of 1693.
Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project
A trustworthy source of information about the Salem Village Witchcraft Trials of 1692, this site includes primary documents from the trials, essays about the trials, and a guide to historic places in Danvers, Massachusetts. A collaboration of the Danvers Archival Center and the University of Virginia Electronic Text Center.

Magazine Articles

The following is a list of periodical articles on the witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Some of these articles are available in print format at the Central branch of the Houston Public Library. Most of the articles are available in electronic format in databases on the Houston Public Library Web site. Articles available electronically are accompanied by an abbreviation that indicates in which electronic source they can be located. Here is a guide to those abbreviations:

ASP= Academic Search Premier
GRC= General Reference Center Gold
MFP= MasterFILE Premier
PDC= Proquest Discovery Complete
To find these articles in a database simply click on the link or type the title, enclosed in quotation marks, into the search field in the indicated database. To find print articles, request the periodical at the Central HPL Express reference desk.

Adams, Gretchen A. "The Specter of Salem in American Culture." OAH Magazine of History (Jul2003): Vol. 17 Issue 4, p24-27, 4p. (MFP)
Anonymous. "Salem Witch Trials: Misogyny, Ergot or Envy?" Economist 323 (16 May 1991): 31. (PDC)
Breslaw, Elaine G. "Tituba's Confession: The Multicultural Dimensions of the 1692 Salem Witch-hunt." Ethnohistory 44 (Summer 1997): 535-556. (PDC)
Davidson, Carla. "Salem at Peace." American Heritage 43 (October 1992): 28-30. (MFP)
Demos, John. "Underlying Themes in the Witchcraft of Seventeenth-Century New England." American Historical Review 75 (June 1970): 1311-1326.
Fortier, Edmund A. "Of Witch Trials and Sundials." Early American Life 27 (April 1996): 42-45. (GRC)
Gildrie, Richard P. "Visions of Evil: Popular Culture, Puritanism and the Massachusetts Crisis of 1692." Journal of American Culture 8 (Winter 1985): 17-33.
Gragg, Larry. "Under an Evil Hand." American History Illustrated 27 (March/April 1992): 55-59. (MFP)
Hurter, Stephanie R. "Elusive or illuminating: Using the web to explore the Salem witchcraft trials." Magazine of HistoryBloomington (Jul 2003): Vol. 17, Iss. 4, p.60. (PDC)
Kauffman, Bill. "Salem: The Case for the Prosecution." American Enterprise (Jul/Aug2001): Vol. 12 Issue 5, p50, 1p. (MFP)
Langley, Michele. "The Salem Witchcraft Trials." Junior Scholastic ( 9/15/2003) Vol. 106 Issue 2, p14, 4p, 3bw. (GRC)
McCain, Diana Ross. "Witches of Salem 300 Years Ago." Early American Life 23 (April 1992): 10-12, 17-18.
Pelka, Fred. "The 'Women's Holocaust'." Humanist 52 (September 1992): 5-11. (MFP)
Poole, William Frederick. "Cotton Mather and Salem Witchcraft." North American Review 108 (April 1869): 337-397.
Reis, Elizabeth. "Confess or deny? What's a witch to do?" Magazine of HistoryBloomington (Jul 2003): Vol. 17, Iss. 4, p.11. (PDC)
Rosenthal, Bernard. "Tituba." OAH Magazine of History (Jul2003): Vol. 17 Issue 4, p48-50, 3p. (MFP)
Shapiro, Laura. "The Lesson of Salem." Newsweek 120 (31 August 1992): 64-68. (ASP)
Watson, Bruce. "Salem's Dark Hour: Did the Devil Make Them Do It?" Smithsonian 23 (April 1992): 116-131. (MFP)
Woodward, Walter W. "New England's other witch-hunt: The Hartford witch-hunt of the 1660s and changing patterns in witchcraft prosecution." Magazine of HistoryBloomington (Jul 2003): Vol. 17, Iss. 4, p.16. (PDC)

Book Sources

These books can be found at the Houston Public Library. Clicking on a linked title will automatically bring up a record for the title in the online catalog. The record will indicate branch location, department and status. If you need help, please ask a librarian for assistance.

Aronson, Marc. Witch-hunt : mysteries of the Salem witch trials. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2003.
(133.4309744 A769)
Boyer, Paul S. Salem possessed : the social origins of witchcraft. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, c1974.
(301.21 B791)
Boyer, Paul and Stephen Nissenbaum (Ed.). Salem-village witchcraft : a documentary record of local conflict. Boston : Northeastern University Press, c1993.
(133.43 S163)
Breslaw, Elaine G., 1932-. Tituba, reluctant witch of Salem : devilish Indians and Puritan fantasies. New York : New York University Press, 1996.
(974.45 B842)
Geis, Gilbert. A trial of witches : a seventeenth-century witchcraft prosecution. London ; New York : Routledge, 1997.
(345.420288 G313)
Hansen, Chadwick, 1926-. Witchcraft at Salem. New York : G. Braziller, 1988, c1969.
(133.43 H249)
Hill, Frances, 1943-. A delusion of Satan : the full story of the Salem witch trials. New York : Doubleday, 1995.
(133.43 H645)
Hill, Frances, 1943-. The Salem witch trials reader. [Cambridge, Mass.] : Da Capo Press, [2000].
(133.43 H645)
Hoffer, Peter Charles, 1944-. The devil's disciples : makers of the Salem witchcraft trials. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, c1996.
(345.744 H698)
Hoffer, Peter Charles, 1944-. The Salem witchcraft trials : a legal history. Lawrence, Kan. : University Press of Kansas, c1997.
(345.744 H599)
LeBeau, Bryan F. The story of the Salem witch trials : we walked in clouds and could not see our way. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall, 1998.
(345.7445 L442)
Mappen, Marc (Ed.). Witches & historians : interpretations of Salem. Huntington, N.Y. : R. E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1980.
(133.409744 M297)
Marvel, Laura (Ed.). The Salem witch trials. San Diego : Greenhaven Press, c2003.
(133.4309744 S163)
Morrison, Dane Anthony , Nancy Lusignan Schultz (Ed.). Salem : place, myth, and memory. Boston : Northeastern University Press, c2004.
(974.402 S163)
Norton, Mary Beth. In the devil's snare : the Salem witchcraft crisis of 1692. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.
(133.4309744 N886)
Perley, Sidney, 1858-1928. The history of Salem, Massachusetts. Decorah, Iowa : Anundsen, 1988.
(974.4 P451)
Roach, Marilynne K. The Salem witch trials : a day-by-day chronicle of a community. New York : Cooper Square Press, 2002.
(133.43 R628)
Robinson, Enders A. The devil discovered : Salem witchcraft 1692. New York : Hippocrene Books, c1991.
(974.402 R659)
Rosenthal, Bernard, 1934-. Salem story : reading the witch trials of 1692. Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1993.
(SR 133.43 R815)
Starkey, Marion Lena. The Devil in Massachusetts : a modern enquiry into the Salem witch trials. Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, c1989.
(133.4 S795)
Woodward, W. Elliot (Comp.). Records of Salem witchcraft, copied from the original documents. New York, Da Capo Press, 1969.
(133.4 R311)
Yool, George Malcolm. 1692 witch hunt : the layman's guide to the Salem witchcraft trials. Bowie, Md. : Heritage Books, c1992.
(345.744 Y59)
Zeinert, Karen. The Salem witchcraft trials. New York : F. Watts, 1989.
(973.2 Z)

Articles in Books

These books can be found at the Central branch of Houston Public Library. Check the catalog record for location and status as some are located in Stacks and some are "Library Use Only." Clicking on the titles will automatically bring up a record for the title in the catalog. If you need help, please ask a librarian for assistance.

Hansen, Chadwick. "Andover witchcraft and the causes of the Salem witchcraft trials." The Occult in America : new historical perspectives. edited by Howard Kerr and Charles L. Crow. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1983. 38-57.
( 133.0973 O15)
Mather, Cotton. "Witchcraft in Salem." The colonial image: origins of American culture. selected and edited by John C. Miller. New York: George Braziller, 1962. 185-189.
(S 973.2 M648)
Mather, Increase. "Witchcraft in Salem." The colonial image: origins of American culture. selected and edited by John C. Miller. New York: George Braziller, 1962. 179-184.
(S 973.2 M648)
Moore, George H. "Notes on the history of witchcraft in Massachusetts; with illustrative documents." Witchcraft in colonial America. edited with introductions by Brian P. Levack. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992. 194-213.
(SR 133.409 W819 Vol. 8)
Sewall, Samuel. "Witchcraft in Salem." The colonial image: origins of American culture. selected and edited by John C. Miller. New York: George Braziller, 1962. 190-192.
(S 973.2 M648)
Wendell, Barrett. "Were the Salem witches guiltless?" Witchcraft in colonial America. edited with introductions by Brian P. Levack. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992. 267-285.
(SR 133.409 W819 Vol. 8)

Further Reading

These books discuss related topics: witch trials and beliefs about witches in New England, England and Europe or background on witchcraft itself.

Barry, Jonathan, Marianne Hester and Gareth Roberts (Ed.). Witchcraft in early modern Europe : studies in culture and belief. Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 1998.
(133.43094 W819)
Barstow, Anne Llewellyn. Witchcraze : a new history of the European witch hunts. San Francisco, CA : Pandora, c1994.
(133.43094 B282)
Burr, George Lincoln (Ed.). Narratives of the witchcraft cases, 1648-1706. New York : Barnes & Noble, 1966, c1914.
(973.2 O69)
Carlson, Laurie M., 1952-. A fever in Salem : a new interpretation of the New England witch trials. Chicago : I.R. Dee, 1999.
(133.43 C284)
Demos, John. Entertaining Satan : witchcraft and the culture of early New England. New York : Oxford University Press, 1982.
(974 D387)
Geis, Gilbert. A trial of witches : a seventeenth-century witchcraft prosecution. London ; New York : Routledge, 1997.
(345.420288 G313)
Godbeer, Richard. Escaping Salem : the other witch hunt of 1692. New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.
(133.4309746 G577)
Hall, David D. (Ed.). Witch-hunting in seventeenth-century New England : a documentary history, 1638-1693. Boston : Northeastern University Press, c1999.
(133.43 W819 2ED)
Kamensky, Jane. Governing the tongue [electronic resource] : the politics of speech in early New England. New York : Oxford University Press, 1997.
(EBOOK)
Karlsen, Carol F., 1940-. The devil in the shape of a woman : witchcraft in colonial New England. New York : Norton, 1998.
(133.4 K18)
Kittredge, George Lyman, 1860-1941. Witchcraft in Old and New England. Russell & Russell c1958.
(R133.4 K62 1958)
Levack, Brian P. (Ed). Witchcraft in England. New York : Garland Pub., 1992.
(SR 133.409 W819 v.6)
Levack, Brian P. (Ed). Witch-hunting in early modern Europe : general studies. New York : Garland Pub., 1992.
(SR 133.409 W819 v.3)
McManus, Edgar J. Law and liberty in early New England : criminal justice and due process, 1620-1692. Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, c1993.
(345.7405 M167)
Pócs, Éva. Between the living and the dead [electronic resource] : a perspective on witches and seers in the early modern age. translated by Szilvia Rédey and Michael Webb. Budapest : Central European University Press ; Ithaca, N.Y. :Distributed in the U.S. by Cornell University Press Services, 1999.
(EBOOK)
Reis, Elizabeth, 1958-. Damned women : sinners and witches in Puritan New England. Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1997.
(305.40974 R375)

Videos

These videos are in the collection of the Houston Public Library.

Three sovereigns for Sarah [VHS videorecording] / produced by Night Owl Productions. Alexandria, VA : PBS Video [distributor], c1985.
(VCAS THREE)