Lanterna Rally

Author: Robert Calef

Publisher: Fox Editing Classics

Published: 2020-02-21

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 9781947587106

"MORE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD: OR THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD DISPLAYED IN FIVE PARTS." Originally published in London in 1700, Calef's work contains a collection of correspondence between the author and Cotton Mather, as well as other interested parties, in debate over the then-recent Salem witch trials, and particularly the doctrinal defenses of the use of spectral evidence in capital trials. It additionally discusses, also largely in epistolary form, the misgivings of some parishoners of Salem Village regarding their minister, Mr. Parris, and his acceptance of the trials. Finally, it includes transcripts of some of the indictments, correspondence, and testimony from the witch trials themselves, and a criticism of Cotton Mather's posthumous biography of William Phips, whom Increase Mather had nominated as the lt. governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (Phips was appointed the colony's first royal governor at the same time that the witchcraft uproar was just beginning in Salem and the surrounding villages.) Though rarely found in print, "More Wonders of the Invisible World" provides a more readable (and empathetic) view of the events of 1692 Salem than the better-known Mather book from which its title is adapted, making it a foundational treatise for students of early Colonial history. This unabridged edition has been newly typeset and edited with the goal of retaining some of the look and feel of the original while also prioritizing legibility for the modern reader. The text was compiled from various print sources of the original 1700 book, and other than the correction of some small typographical errors, the text largely retains spelling, capitalization and type styles based primarily on the Salem 1823 edition. It also includes footnotes added to the Salem 1860 edition by editor Samuel P. Fowler.