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. Slotkin, Richard, and Folsom, James K., eds.. So Dreadfull a Judgment: Puritan Responses to King Philip's War 1676-1677. Wesleyan: Middletown, CT. 1978. Order from Amazon.com

    Collection of primary texts by Increase Mather, Benjamin Thompson, Thomas Wheeler, Samuel Nowell, Mary Rowlandson, and Benjamin Church.
  2. Smith, Merril D.. Sex and Sexuality in Early America. New York University Press: New York. 1998. Order from Amazon.com

  3. Sperry, Kip. Reading Early American Handwriting. Genealogical Publishing Co.: Baltimore, MD. 1998. Order from Amazon.com

    An excellent sourcebook with plenty of examples to help one learn how to read older handwriting.
  4. St. George, Rpbert Blair. Conversing by Signs: Poetics of Implication in Colonial New England Culture. University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC. 1998. Order from Amazon.com

  5. Starkey, Marion L.. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trials. Doubleday: New York. 1949. Order from Amazon.com

    Starkey's account is one of the best-known tellings of the tale, although it is now considered dated and full of inaccuracies.
  6. Stryker-Rodda, Harriet. Understanding Colonial Handwriting. Genealogical Publishing Co.: Baltimore, MD. 1986. Order from Amazon.com

    A booklet introducing the basics of the handwriting. Not the most extensive work, but a start.
  7. Tannenbaum, Samuel A.. The Handwriting of the Renaissance, Being the Development and Characteristics of the Script of Shakspere's Time. Columbia University Press: New York. 1931.

    A fabulous book for anyone who has to decipher early handwriting and the many unusual forms of letters, numbers, and punctuation.

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