Daemonology
PUBLIC DOMAINThe Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft
- Original publication
- 1677
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 415
- File size
- 1.1 MB
Webster challenges bodily pacts, transformations and impossible marvels, dismantling the demonological machinery that had turned fantasy and melancholy into capital evidence.
About this text
Description
Published in 1677, physician and clergyman John Webster’s vast treatise rejects many conventional claims about witches, including physical pacts with the Devil, transformations and supernatural transport. He nevertheless accepts spirits and apparitions, creating a complex scepticism shaped by its century. The work is important for resisting the assumptions behind persecution while exploring charms, astral beings and deception. It stands like a disputed lantern in a dark archive, illuminating some illusions while leaving other shadows untouched.
Archive notes
Historical context
Restoration England
Source and rights
Rights information
Licence: PUBLIC DOMAIN
The Project Gutenberg catalogue identifies this edition as public domain in the USA. The identified author, editor and translator dates were screened against the EU life-plus-70 term; the latest identified contributor died no later than 1950, or the work is centuries old. The builder retains the complete Project Gutenberg licence in the converted PDF. Distribute the resulting PDF without charge unless the Project Gutenberg trademark terms are reviewed separately.
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