Search Results: an historical essay concerning witchcraft with by francis hutchinson

Paperback / softback. New.

Paperback. New.

Paperback / softback. New.

Paperback / softback. New.

Hardback. New.

Hardback. New.

Hardback. New.

Hardback. New.

Hardback. New.

London: R. Knaplock and D. Midwinter, 1720. Hardcover. Stated "Second Edition, with Considerable Additions." 4.5 x 7.5in. [28] 336pp. Bound in recent suede with title label. Marbled endpapers. VERY GOOD. Shows the boards somewhat shelf rubbed, a few hint of thumbing at the half-title page, otherwise the binding is strong and tight, the text is clean and unmarked, and the boards remain distinct. As pictured.

London:: Printed for R. Knaplock and D. Midwinter,, MDCCXVIII. [1718].. First edition.. 8vo.. xv, [4], 270, [2]p. Contemporary calf rebacked gilt title label to spine some minor rubbing to edge corners. Lacks blank free endpapers. Wanting half-title [not uncommon]. General title present and text complete. With scarce advert leaf at end. Some minor foxing to outer edges no affect. N1 small hole at bottom margin no affect repaired. Final leaf with minor ink stain to bottom margin of old owners signature. Overall a nice first edition copy of this important landmark work on witchcraft. Affordably priced. Hutchinson (1660-1739) Bishop of Down and Connor and whiggish Anglican "...was careful to uphold the possibility of the spirit world, declaring that 'sober belief' in spirits was 'part of every good Christian's faith'; but he insisted that such convictions were altogether different from 'the fantastick doctrines that support the vulgar opinion of witchcraft'...Hutchinson rehearsed the old sceptical… Read More

London: Printed for R.Knaplock and D.Midwinter, 1720. Second Edition. Hutchinson’s interest in the history of witchcraft was piqued during his tenure as a minister and perpetual curate at St. James Parish in Bury St. Edmunds, which had been the location of a number of famous trials including that of Jane Wenham in 1712 which Hutchinson witnessed firsthand. In the present work, first published in 1718, Hutchinson carefully examined witch-hunting and the witchcraft prosecutions in East Anglia and other parts of England, as well as at Salem, Boston, and Andover in New England, and “applied a consciously rational approach to the phenomenon”. (T.Barnard, Oxford DNB) The treatise is “full of valuable historical details, with many particulars collected by personal inquiry from survivors.” (Rev. A.Gordon, DNB) In A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718 (1911), Wallace Notestein pronounced the book "epoch-making" and declared that with it “Hutchinson levelled a final and deadly blow… Read More

FIRST EDITION. Octavo, 270 pp., [1] leaf (ads) attractive contemporary paneled calf. No spine label. Half-title is present and the text is very fresh for its age with white pages. The rear hinge is a little weak and shaken, but an excellent contemporary copy usually found rebound or in later bindings. Housed and chemised in a quarter morocco slipcase with marbled boards and a green morocco label by the Heritage Bindery which will insure protection. British clergyman Francis Hutchinson was "the man who gave the coup de grace to the witch delusion in England" (Robbins), leveling "a final and deadly blow at the dying superstition" (Note stein). "Of most interest to him were the witchcraft accusations at Boston and Salem, and… [the case] of Jane Wenham (1712), which provoked intense passions and vicious politicking… Hutchinson's account of witchcraft is thoroughly modern a history book 'of the moment'… and his carefully modest appeal for reform of the laws on witchcraft was indeed heeded, although… Read More