Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft

About this book

A witch trial, a reported apparition or an old court record can make the beliefs of an earlier century feel startlingly immediate. Walter Scott gathers these accounts in letters about demonology and witchcraft.

He explores Scottish and European traditions, examining how stories of supernatural interference gained authority within communities. Writing with the interests of both a historian and a storyteller, Scott preserves episodes whose details had already begun to blur into legend. His treatment also reveals the slow change in attitudes towards accusation and credulity.