Collection Overview
Witchcraft Collection
1857-2007
MS 647
4 boxes
(3.5 linear ft.)
English
Sophia Smith Collection
Smith College
Northampton, MA
This subject collection contains primarily printed materials on the history of witches and witchcraft in the U.S. The bulk of the collection consists of research files and published sources collected by Virginia Clegg Gamage pertaining to the history of witches and witchcraft; the European witch hunts and witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts; and the practice of witchcraft in the 20th century.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Witchcraft Collection contains primarily printed materials on the history of witches and witchcraft in the U.S. The bulk of the collection consists of research files and published sources collected by Virginia Clegg Gamage pertaining to the history of witches and witchcraft; the European witch hunts and witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts; and the practice of witchcraft in the 20th century. Types of materials include books, pamphlets, articles, clippings, notes and writings by Virginia Gamage and audio recordings of a lecture and a play on witchcraft. The collection is arranged in three sections:
Pamphlets, Virginia Clegg Gamage research and writings, and Books. Miscellaneous pamphlets date from 1857-1903. Research and Writings is divided into three subseries: Research files, Writings, and Audiocassettes. Books are on the subject of witchcraft and inlcude fiction that features witches.
The collection is open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection. Access to audiovisual materials is restricted, due to the need for production of research copies.
The SSC owns copyright to Virginia Gamage's unpublished writings. Copyright to materials by persons other than Gamage is owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
"Witchcraft Collection, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass."
Items in this collection were either purchased or given by various donors. Peter Gamage, at the request of his mother Virginia Gamage, donated the bulk of the collection in 2009. Virginia Gamage was an alumna of Smith College, and worked for years as a historian of Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Processed by Nichole Calero, 2012
Paganism -- History -- 20th century
Spirituality -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
Witchcraft -- History -- Sources
Witchcraft -- Massachusetts -- Salem
Related materials can be found in the
Women's Liberation Collection [under Subjects -- Spirituality]
1
1
Pamphlets 1857-1903
Virginia C. Gamage Research Files and Writings circa 1969-2007, n.d.
Research Files
1
2
Sources
1
3
Pamphlets and programs
1
4
Salem Witch Trial pardons
1
5
Marblehead churches
1
6
Salem
1
7
Misc. articles on witchcraft
1
8
Misc. articles
1
9
The Witches Newsletter
1
10
General background, customs & early histories of New England
1
11
Lecture Notes
1
12
Personal
1
13-17
Research notes on people, places, and misc.
1
18
Correspondence
Writings
2
1-11
Copies of Esther Forbes papers from Essex Institute Library
2
12
Misc notes and typed pages
2
13
Untitled typescript authorship unknown
Audiocassettes
2
14
Witchcraft lecture by VCG 1992
2
15
Witchcraft play n.d.
Books
3
A Cauldron of Witches by Clifford Lindsey Alderman 1973
3
Chronicles of Old Salem by Frances Diane Robotti 1968
3
The Crucible by Arthur Miller 1953
3
Cures and Curses by Dorothy Jacob 1967
3
The Dark World of Witches by Eric Maple 1962
3
A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials by Frances Hill 1995
3
Demonology and Witchcraft: letters addressed to J.G. Lockhart Esq. by Sir Walter Scott 1970
3
A Destroying Angel: The Conquest of Smallpox in Colonial Boston by Ola Elizabeth Winslow 1974
3
Dialogues with the Devil by Taylor Caldwell 1967
3
Dictionary of Witchcraft by Collin de Plancy; edited and translated by Wade Baskin 1965
3
An Echo from Salem by Mona Etsy Worsencroft 1981
3
The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology by Rossell Hope Robbins 1970
3
Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England by John Putnam Demos 1982
3
Famous and Curious Cemeteries by John Francis Marion 1977
3
In the Devil's Snare by Mary Beth Norton 2002
3
Lectures on Witchcraft by Charles W. Upham 1831
4
Meetinghouse Hill: 1630-1783 by Ola Elizabeth Winslow 1952
4
Never on a Broomstick by Frank Donovan 1971
4
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft by Paul Boyer and Stephan Nissenbaum 1974
4
Salem Village Witchcraft; Mrs. Elizabeth Howe's Trial by M.V.B. Perley 1911
4
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne 1955
4
Spirit of '76 Lives Here: Marblehead by Priscilla Sawyer Lord & Virginia Clegg Gamage 1972
4
The Tall Man from Boston by Marion L. Starkey 1975
4
A Treasury of Witchcraft by Harry E. Wedeck 1961
4
The Visionary Girls: Witchcraft in Salem Villageby Marion Starkey 1973
4
What Happened in Salem by David Levin 1960
4
Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture by Arthur Evans 1978
4
A Witch's Guide to Gardening by Dorothy Jacob 1964
4
The Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692 by Leo Bonfanti (3 copies)1971
4
The Witches Almanac Edited by Elizabeth Pepper and John Wilcock 1972
4
A Witches Brew by Adelina Grenier Simmons n.d.
4
Witches' Potions and Spells edited by Katherine Paulsen 1971
4
Witches, Wraiths, and Warlocks: Supernatural Tales of the American Renaissance edited by Ronald Curran 1971