ASH3002y Reading Assignment
February 15, 1999
The Witches of Salem, the Magistrates of Boston
Required reading:
- David D. Hall, Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A
Documentary History:
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: The Early Cases (1638-1651)
- Chapter 18: The Salem Witch-hunt (1692)
- Appendix: Statutes Relating to Witchcraft in New England
- One additional chapter of your choice. Please post your
selection to the bulletin
board, so that we can cover the book collectively. Come to class prepared to be the
point-person on your chosen chapter in our discussion.
- Boyer and Nissenbaum's study of Salem in Salem
Posessed: The Social Origins of Witchraft
- For the purposes of this class, I recommend that you read the article-length version of
their study, "Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft," in Katz
and Murrin, Colonial America: Essays in Political and Social Development,
3d edition, pp. 343-372. There are multiple copies of this text in the Columbia
library system, including two on reserve at Barnard (call number HN57 .C584 1983).
Note that the Boyer and Nissenbaum essay is found only in the 1983 edition.
- You may also choose to read the book-length version of Boyer and Nissenbaum's study by
the same title. There are at least 14 copies of this text in the Columbia
library system, including several copies on reserve in the Barnard library (call number
BF1576 .B6).
Related web sites:
There are many sites out there of variable quality. See what you find and let us know.