While the entire physical Witchcraft Collection is available for in-person research in Cornell Library’s Rare and Manuscript Division, 104 English language books from the collection can be read online in the Digital Witchcraft Collection. These titles were digitally scanned from microfilm by Primary Source Media in 1998. The resulting full text scans were later made available to Cornell University Library to enable free public access. A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and the Occult" failed to meet my expectations and left me disappointed. While the book boasts visually appealing illustrations, the writing style falls short in capturing my interest. Rather than presenting a compelling historical narrative, it reads more like a dry and academic document. In the 21st century, curators began building on AD White’s witchcraft collection by acquiring modern materials such as posters and publicity for films featuring witches or sorcery, and newsletters on the activities of contemporary Wiccan and Pagan communities. Search/Browse Digitized Witchcraft Books in English Though not my favorite work by Valiente (give me her memoir The Rebirth of Witchcraft everyday of the week!) this is still a tremendous book. It’s a how to book from the woman who wrote many of Modern Witchcraft’s earliest rituals. And Valiente can be counted on to provide clear and practical instructions. The first truly great “101 Book” to come from Great Britain. This is our first “American Witchcraft” book, and while it’s not all that great today, it provides the first real printed insight into what Witchcraft looked like in the States during the 1960’s. The book is really New York-centric, but that’s pretty common place in all sorts of settings. Martello is an often overlooked pioneer, but he shouldn’t be.

I was provided a free copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review* DK is known for its layouts filled with photographs and images that add to the information being presented, and this book was no different. Filled with images from primary sources as well as photographs of artifacts. They covered many of the major historical sources and theories as well as historical figures throughout time.

Modern witchcraft. Thelema (Greek for “will”). Divination Runes. “The function of magic is to ritualize man’s optimism.” It took me a while to finish this one because it’s a textbook, more than anything, and on an average person’s shelf, serves more as a reference book or a survey of occultism, witchcraft, or alternative spiritual practices from around the world. The heavy focus on presenting facts and information without a cohesive storytelling approach made it challenging for me to engage with the content. I found myself craving a more immersive and engaging reading experience, which this book failed to provide.

Once a tool invented by demonologists to hurt and silence their enemies, witch trials have been twisted and transformed over the course of history and the lines between witch and witch-hunter blurred. For the fortunate, a witch-hunt is just a metaphor, but, as this book makes clear, witches are truly still on trial. The Routledge History of Witchcraft is a comprehensive and interdisciplinary study of the belief in witches from antiquity to the present day, providing both an introduction to the subject of witchcraft and an overview of the on-going debates. A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and the Occult charts the extraordinary narrative of one of the most interesting and often controversial subjects in the world--from ancient animal worship and shamanism, through alchemy and divination to modern Wicca and the resurgence of the occult in 21st-century literature, movies, and television. The Tree was the first book to describe an entire Witchcraft system/tradition with some sort of depth, and unlike Sheba’s Book of Shadows, it broke no oaths while doing so. I often think of The Tree as a book for solitaries, but as Aidan Kelly points out in the comments below, it does contain a full compliment of the usual ritual roles one finds in a coven. Still, if you were a solitary, this was probably the place to start in the 1970’s. One of the great things about Huson’s book is that it appeals to a broad audience. Don’t like Wicca? Well there’s a lot in here that’s very much un-Wiccan. Looking to start a Wiccan-style coven? Well, the entire last chapter of the book is dedicated to just that. I remain amazed and awed by the longevity of this book and how important it is to various Witch communities.The world of witch-hunts and witch trials sounds archaic and fanciful, these terms relics of an unenlightened, brutal age. However, we often hear ‘witch-hunt’ in today’s media, and the misogyny that shaped witch trials is all too familiar. Three women were prosecuted under a version of the 1735 Witchcraft Act as recently as 2018. It shows us how witchcraft was reimagined by lawyers and radical historians in France, how suspicions of sorcery led to murder in Jazz Age Pennsylvania, the effects of colonialism and Christian missionary zeal on ‘witches’ in Africa, and how even today a witch trial can come in many guises.