THE PENGUIN BOOK OF WITCHES
Katherine Howe ▪ A Penguin Classics Original ▪ $17.00
On-sale September 30, 2014 ▪ ISBN: 978-0-14-310618-0
ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK
Publishing in time for Halloween, Penguin Classics is proud to present an original collection of chilling real-life accounts of accused witches, from medieval Europe through colonial America: THE PENGUIN BOOK OF WITCHES (A Penguin Classics Original; On-sale September 30, 2014; $17.00; ISBN: 978-0-14-310618-0), edited and with an introduction by Katherine Howe, the New York Times-bestselling author of several novels about witches and a teacher in the American Studies program at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
From a manual for witch hunters written by King James himself in 1597, to court documents from the Salem witch trials of 1692, to newspaper coverage of a woman stoned to death on the streets of Philadelphia while the Continental Congress met, THE PENGUIN BOOK OF WITCHES is a treasury of historical accounts of accused witches that sheds light on the reality behind the legends.
Bringing to life stories like that of Eunice Cole, tried for attacking a teenage girl with a rock and buried with a stake through her heart; Jane Jacobs, a Bostonian so often accused of witchcraft that she took her tormentors to court on charges of slander; and Increase Mather, an exorcism-performing minister famed for his knowledge of witches, THE PENGUIN BOOK OF WITCHES provides a unique tour through the darkest history of English and North American witchcraft.
Ideal for fans of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, the Harry Potter series, and Half Bad by Sally Green, THE PENGUIN BOOK OF WITCHES is sure to thrill, fascinate, and perhaps even frighten readers of all kinds.
PRAISE FOR THE PENGUIN BOOK OF WITCHES
“This comprehensive collection of carefully selected documents and published primary materials, coupled with judicious and informative introductions, will help modern readers understand the seemingly inexplicable and persistent popular phenomenon of belief in witchcraft from the seventeenth century into more modern times.”
—Mary Beth Norton, author of In the Devil’s Snare
“An informative and engaging series of texts that Katherine Howe introduces in a crisp and well-informed manner. The chronological breadth is unusual, but it allows us to grasp more fully the continuities that mark the history of witch-hunting on both sides of the Atlantic.”
—David D. Hall, Harvard Divinity School
About the Editor:
KATHERINE HOWE, the direct descendant of three accused Salem witches, is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, The House of Velvet and Glass, and the young-adult novel Conversion, a modern-day retelling of The Crucible set in a Massachusetts prep school. She teaches in the American Studies program at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. You can visit her website at www.katherinehowe.com.