17th Century New England, with special emphasis on the Salem Witchcraft Trials

A 17th Century Colonial New England Bibliography

This is a sometimes-annotated bibliography of the books in my personal reference library as I research 17th century colonial New England. There are a lot about the Salem witch-hunt, Puritan thought, and Anglo-Indian contact, but also a few odds and ends that make sense to me to have on hand. Please note: I do not lend books. To anyone. Most of these titles can be borrowed from any good public or university library. If you want to purchase a copy of any of these titles, I have included direct links to Amazon.com for all but a handful of out-of-print or hard-to-find local imprint titles. To print out the whole bibliography, please use the printer-friendly version to save paper.

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Anderson | Bailyn | Bouchard | Bradford | Bremer | Calloway | Condé | Daniels | Dow | Fisher
Gildrie | Grumet | Hayes | Holifield | Koehler | Lockridge | Mather | Miller | Norton | Powers
Robinson | Scot | Slotkin | Tapley | Ulrich | Vaughan | Whiting | Woodward

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  1. Robinson, Enders A.. The Devil Discovered: Salem Witchcraft 1692. Hippocrene: New York. 1991. Order from Amazon.com

    Robinson claims that the events in Salem were the direct result of a conspiracy set up by the Putnam family and Rev. Samuel Parris, based on the pattern of the familial allegiances of the afflicted and the people who filed the legal complaints -- which was used as a vehicle for the interests of the old guard Puritans, including Cotton Mather.
  2. Rosenthal, Bernard. Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692. Camrbidge University Press: New York. 1993. Order from Amazon.com

    A marvelous close-reading of the extant primary texts, which hilites the inaccuracies of the myths that have emerged over the years about these events.
  3. Round, Phillip H.. By Nature and by Custom Cursed: Transatlantic Civil Discourse and New England Cultural Production, 1620-1660 . Civil Society Series. University Press of New England: Hanover, NH. 1999. Order from Amazon.com

  4. Rowlandson, Mary. Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Together With the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson and Related Documents. Bedford Series in History and Culture. Bedford: Boston. 1997. Order from Amazon.com

    A different edition of Rowlandson's narrative. Related documents included are various excerpts, letters and sermons from 1675-1678 on the subject of the Indian war, plus an excerpt about Hannah Dustion's captivity from Cotton Mather's Decennium Luctousum, 1699.
  5. Rowlandson, Mary. The Captive: An Early American Classic. Originally published in 1682 in Cambridge, MA, by Samuel Green, under the title of The Soverignty and Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed, Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. American Eagle: Tucson, AZ`. 1990. Order from Amazon.com

    Rowlandson's first-hand account of her captivity from Lancaster, MA, during King Philip's War provides a fascinating glimpse into both the mind of a woman during that period and details of Indian life -- both to her contemporaries and to today's reader. Rowlandson's ability to knit turned out to be one of her most valuable assets during her time with the Indians.
  6. Salisbury, Neal. Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the Making of New England, 1500-1643. Oxford University Press: New York . 1982. Order from Amazon.com

  7. Schultz, Eric B., and Touglas, Michael J.. King Philip's War: The History and Legacy of America's Forgotten Conflict. Countryman Press: Woodstock, VT. 1999. Order from Amazon.com

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This page was last updated Feb. 15, 2009 by Margo Burns, My email address.