The war on witchcraft: Andrew Dickson White, George Lincoln Burr, and the origins of witchcraft historiography

Historians of the early modern witch-hunt often begin histories of their field with the theories propounded by Margaret Murray and Montague Summers in the 1920s. They overlook the lasting impact of nineteenth-century scholarship, in particular the contributions by two American historians, Andrew Dic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Machielsen, Jan 1984- (Author)
Format: Electronic Book
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
WorldCat: WorldCat
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2021
In:Year: 2021
Series/Journal:Cambridge elements. Elements in Magic
Further subjects:B White, Andrew Dickson (1832-1918)
B Witchcraft Historiography
B Burr, George Lincoln (1857-1938)
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Erscheint auch als: 9781108948746
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Summary:Historians of the early modern witch-hunt often begin histories of their field with the theories propounded by Margaret Murray and Montague Summers in the 1920s. They overlook the lasting impact of nineteenth-century scholarship, in particular the contributions by two American historians, Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918) and George Lincoln Burr (1857-1938). Study of their work and scholarly personae contributes to our understanding of the deeply embedded popular understanding of the witch-hunt as representing an irrational past in opposition to an enlightened present. Yet the men's relationship with each other, and with witchcraft sceptics - the heroes of their studies - also demonstrates how their writings were part of a larger war against 'unreason'. This Element thus lays bare the ways scholarly masculinity helped shape witchcraft historiography, a field of study often seen as dominated by feminist scholarship. Such meditation on past practice may foster reflection on contemporary models of history writing.
Item Description:Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 30 Jun 2021)
ISBN:110895331X
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/9781108953313