Women's History Resource Site

King's College History Department

Book Review

Kitteredge, George Lyman. Witchcraft in Old and New England. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1929.

Throughout history, natural forces have always been the product of supernatural circumstances, or so people have believed. If a person could not explain the weather or a certain plague, men hypothesized that the spirits must have something to do with it. George Lyman Kitteredge discussed people’s supernatural beliefs in his book Witchcraft in Old and New England. As the title suggests, Kitteredge gave the history of witches, and the hysteria that surrounded them, not only in the British Isles, but also in places like Cape Cod and Salem in North America. Kitteredge, who was a professor at Harvard, took great pains in describing instances of witchcraft and the witch trials. However, the most important contribution this book makes is the explanation of this hysteria that was brought on by the people who believed in witches.

Kitteredge mentioned very early in the book that witchcraft was not brought to Europe by learned people, but the struggling masses who clung to their ancient beliefs (25). However, as Kitteredge suggests, once the beliefs of witches came to Europe, everyone had a hand in spreading the black art. Hundreds of examples were used to show that this was not only a poor man’s belief, but an intelligent aristocrat’s as well. Kitteredge used citations that showed the fear of witches from people like King James I, Queen Elizabeth I, and other monarchs as well as testimonies from well-respected doctors, scholars, and theologians of the time.

Kitteredge described the people that believed in witchcraft, but he also described what it is they believed in as well. Different kinds of witchcraft were discussed to give the reader a background of the art, as well as to show the absurdity of some beliefs. Kitteredge used many transcripts from diaries, court trials, and other forms of writing to show examples of different kinds of witchcraft. He tells stories of people dying, supposedly, from a witch sticking pins in a doll that was supposed to represent the intended victim; this type of magic is called image magic. An example of image magic can be shown in Germany in 1066:  the Bishop [sic] of Treves (Trier) issued an edict that all Jews who were not baptized by Easter must be banished from the city. The story said that some of the Jews made a waxen image of the prelate, and melted it. Upon doing this, he died while kneeling in front of the cross (75-76).

Stories were also told about cows that lost their ability to give milk because of a witch’s curse. Other stories involved witches turning into cats, magic potions, and other mysterious happenings. Again, primary source evidence was used not only to show the validity of Kitteredge’s description, but I believe to show the silliness in the belief in witchcraft.

One of the strongest points of the Kitteredge book was the use of primary source material. It was fascinating to read the words of King James I, and personal devastation that witchcraft brought to so many people. Through personal accounts, Kitteredge also did a good job in showing that the people who were accused of witchcraft were not exactly saints. Kitteredge showed that many of the people who were executed for witchcraft were usually guilty of intent to do so, and he showed this through actual confessions made by the accused witches (373).

Kitterdege’s switching to the American colonies was another redeeming quality of the book. He made it a point to show the parallels between the British Isles and America in regards to the witch hysteria that was brewing. Kitteredge also talked about the most notorious site for witch trials in America, Salem, Massachusetts, and managed to put it in its proper historical perspective. He mentioned that compared to Europe and the rest of the world, relatively few witches were killed in New England. Kitteredge went as far as to call the outbreak of witchcraft a "mere incident" in the annals of history (328).

One of the weaknesses of the book was the constant jumping of time period to time period. At times the narrative seemed to slow down due to the constant flashback to one age, or the forwarding to another. However, this was not a major detraction of the book, and was usually kept in the context of the subject he was discussing. Another weakness of the book was that at times Kitteredge seemed to be too apologetic for witchcraft. This contrasts with other instances where he proves the witch phenomenon to be an absurd practice. For example, in chapter 17, Kitteredge took the time to show how laughable it was for a well-respected doctor to believe in witches in the Warboys case. Then on page 372, he said that the belief in witchcraft is "the common heritage of humanity."

This book was, for1929, as Herbert Gorman of the New York Times called it, the "definitive study" of witchcraft. Kitteredge’s mastery of citation and use of primary sources makes this book an interesting source on the subject of witchcraft. Even though Kitteredge began the book by mentioning that he does not believe in witchcraft, he at no time tried to argue against the reality of witchcraft. Kitteredge took many materials from people who believed in witchcraft intently, and did a good job in showing his own views as well.

George Kitteredge successfully showed the different aspects of witchcraft and the hysteria that surrounds it. In doing this, Kitteredge also showed how susceptible human being are to flawed ideas. The author’s main objective was to explain the history of witchcraft, but succeeded in showing how horrible idea witchcraft is. This is an excellent book on the art of witchcraft that is an essential part to the collection of any witchcraft enthusiast. Kitteredge’s basis in facts makes this a book that will stand the test of time. This book should be read by students of old and modern Britain, as well as anyone interested in witches in general.

Annotated Reviews

Gorman, Herbert. "Once it was Reasonable to Believe in Witchcraft." The New York Times Book Review, 17 March 1929, 4.
This review did call the Kitteredge book the definitive study of witchcraft for its time. This source provides a detailed synopsis of the book, as well as some further explanation as to what is in the book.

Knight, Marion A. and Ruth N. Lechlitner, ed. "Kitteredge, George Lyman." Book Review Digest. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1930, 520-521.
This source has many reviews regarding the Kitteredge book. The Book Review digest provides scholarly journal article reviews as well as mainstream publications such as the New York Times. This source is successful in providing an array of opinions on the Kitteredge book.

URL: http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/wrevkitteredge.html Written by Matthew Fisher Last Revision: 12 November 2001 Copyright © MM Prof. Pavlac's Women's History Site