Introduction
This page contains links to various resources to help you research for History of the Supernatural: Witchcraft and Witch-Hunts HIST 400. Navigate the pages on the left-hand side for additional links to resources. Currently, this is a developing guide; aspects of this guide may change or be added in response to the direction of individual students inquiries.
Please schedule an appointment if you need assistance finding resources for your topic.
Focused Journal Databases
This is a selection of focused databases which may include articles related to witches, witch hunts and the supernatural.
- Historical AbstractsHistorical Abstracts covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more.
- Gale Primary SourcesGale Primary Sources allows researchers to uncover primary source documents in archives where they may not have thought to look, greatly enhancing their research experience. By building a seamless research environment for multiple collections, Gale is creating the largest digital humanities and social sciences collection in the world.
- JSTORFull text of older issues of journals. Access includes Arts & Sciences I-XV, Business I Collection, Health & General Sciences Collection, and the Life Sciences Collection.
- Humanities SourceHumanities Source is designed to meet the needs of students, researchers and educators interested in all aspects of the humanities. The collection includes full text for more than 1,400 journals, with citations to over 3.5 million articles, including book reviews, and indexing back to 1907.
- ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials PLUSATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials PLUS provides coverage from 1949 and retrospective indexing for several journal issues as far back as the nineteenth century. Full-text content is included for more than 425 journals.
- EBSCO ReligionEbsco Religion allows you to search the following databases simultaneously:
ATLA Religion Database
Catholic Periodical and Literature Index
Index to Jewish Periodicals
New Testament Abstracts
Old Testament Abstracts
Multidisciplinary Databases
Use multidisciplinary databases to find articles related to your topic that were published in journals not included in the focussed subject database. Using these broader databases often requires more narrowing in your search process.
- FusionFusion allows you to search, in one place, the majority of the library’s books, articles, videos, etc. It includes all the materials in our library catalog Ignacio, as well as the content of the majority of our many databases.
- Google ScholarArticles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Click "more" below to customize Google Scholar to access USF library journal subscriptions.
- Center for Research LibrariesThe Center for Research Libraries provides a shared collection of five million books, journals, documents and newspapers to supplement member libraries’ holdings in the humanities, science, and social sciences. CRL materials can be obtained for extended loan periods, allowing for intensive use of long runs of publications and archives. With a strategic emphasis on expanding electronic access to international primary source collections, CRL participates in a number of cooperative digitization efforts, yielding over 15 million pages of digitized content to date.
Reference Resources
Academic encyclopedias are great for background information or basic facts on a topic.
Topic specific dictionaries are excellent for focussed and nuanced definitions.
Subject bibliographies identify key, important, books and articles on focussed subtopics.
You can find more online academic encyclopeidas here.
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft by
Call Number: BF1566 .G85 1999ISBN: 0816038481Publication Date: 1999-10-01More than 500 entries present a detailed look at the Craft and its history from its ancient origins to its modern revival. Here, in an A-to-Z format, researchers will find unparalleled coverage of witchcraft practices around the world in different time periods and societies, including entries on magic, shamanism, the occult, and wizardry. Also included are biographies of the most influential characters in the witchcraft movement and how they shaped the traditions and practices of their followers. Completely updated throughout, the second edition provides expanded cross-cultural entries and additional historical data. More than thirty new entries include modern Wicca and Paganism, related organizations, and their activities; magic tools, rituals, and types of divination; and mythological roots of witchcraft.Witch Hunts in Europe and America by
Call Number: BF1584.E9 B87 2003ISBN: 0313321426Publication Date: 2003-10-30From early sorcery trials of the 14th century--associated primarily with French and Papal courts--to the witch executions of the late 18th century, this book's entries cover witch-hunting in individual countries, major witch trials from Chelmsford, England, to Salem, Massachusetts, and significant individuals from famous witches to the devout persecutors. Entries such as the evil eye, familiars, and witch-finders cover specific aspects of the witch-hunting process, while entries on writers and modern interpretations provide insight into the current thinking on early modern witch hunts. From the wicked witch of children's stories to Halloween and present-day Wiccan groups, witches and witchcraft still fascinate observers of Western culture. Witches were believed to affect climatological catastrophes, put spells on their neighbors, and cavort with the devil. In early modern Europe and the Americas, witches and witch-hunting were an integral part of everyday life, touching major events such as the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution, as well as politics, law, medicine, and culture.Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology by
Call Number: BF1503 .R63ISBN: 9780517362457Publication Date: 1959A compendium of information on the history, practitioners, and lore of witchcraft and sorcery.European Witch Trials by
Call Number: KJC964.W58 K53 1976 and onlineISBN: 9780520320581Publication Date: 2023-04-28Includes a chapter of a calendar (chronological list) of witch trials
General Encyclopedias
- Gale eBooksA great place to begin your research, Gale eBooks offers thousands of authoritative articles published in academic encyclopedias, and written by subject experts. Gale eBooks provides information you can not only trust, but cite in a paper as well. Formerly called GVRL: Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Books
Topic/Age Specific Books
- EEBO: Early English Books OnlineEEBO: Early English Books Online contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700 -- from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War
- ATLA Historical Monographs CollectionThe ATLA Historical Monographs Collection: Series 1 & 2 provides religious and theological literature from the late 13th century to 1922.
- Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 has been hailed as the definitive resource for researching every aspect of 17th- and 18th-century America. This incomparable digital collection contains virtually every book, pamphlet and broadside published in America over a 160-year period.
- Eighteenth Century Collections OnlineDigital images of every page of 150,000 books published during the 18th Century. With full-text searching of approximately 33 million pages--in essence, every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas.
Books General
The Ignacio Catalog reflects the holdings of the USF Libraries (Gleeson and Zief) including books and videos. Other local libraries may provide additional resources. There are several excellent free, open access ebook platforms. Worldcat reflects the holdings of thousands of libraries world wide. If you discover something that is not available at the USF Libraries you can request it through The Gleeson Library Inter Library Loan office.
- Ignacio: Library CatalogThe library catalog lets you search across the holdings of Gleeson Library and Zief Law Library, including books, videos, and other materials.
- San Francisco Public Library (SFPL)The San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) has branches all over the city including the Park and Richmond Branches which are close to USF.
- Hathi Trust Digital LibraryHathiTrust is a collaboration of academic and research libraries with 17+ million digitized items. They offer reading access to the fullest extent allowable by U.S. copyright law. Gleeson Library is not a HathiTrust member but anyone can create a guest account.
- Open LibraryOpen Library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Read, borrow, and discover more than 3 million books.
- WorldCat Library SearchSearch for libraries all over the world by zip code, city, state, or country. Library policies will vary, so check the library's web site for information on access and use.
Maps
- David Rumsey Map CollectionThe David Rumsey Map Collection contains more than 150,000 maps. The collection focuses on rare 16th through 21st century maps of North and South America, as well as maps of the World, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Items range in date from about 1550 to the present.
- Old Maps OnlineOldMapsOnline.org indexes over 400.000 maps. This is only thanks to the archives and libraries that were open to the idea and provided their online content.
Additional Witch, and Witch Hunt Resources
Subject specific Libraries, Archives and Libraries may offer unique resources.
Professional organizations can often give you insight into the field.
- Library of Congress Guide: Witch Trials & WitchcraftThis is part of a collection: French Women & Feminists in History: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
- Cornell University Library, Digital Witchcraft CollectionCornell’s Witchcraft Collection contains over 3,000 titles documenting the history of the Inquisition and the persecution of witchcraft, primarily in Europe. 104 English language books from the collection can be read online in the Digital Witchcraft Collection
- Malleus Maleficarum (1486) TranslationMalleus Maleficarum (1486) Somers 1928 Translation, from Internet Archive.
- The Proceedings of the Old Bailey: London's central criminal courtThe Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913
A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,752 trials held at London's central criminal court, and 475 Ordinary’s Accounts of the lives of executed convicts. - UK national archives: Early Modern witch trialsUK national archives, classroom resources. Document collection includes various documents relating to the witch craze in 17th century England. It allows students and teachers to develop their own questions.
Salem Trials
- Salem Witchcraft Trials (1692)University of Missouri (Kansas City) School of Law
page is a component of the Famous American Trials website. - The Salem Witch Trials: A legal bibliographyUniversity of Chicago Library
- The Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription ProjectUniversity of Virginia Library
Archives and Libraries
A selection of national and local Libraries and Archives. If you are considering a different area use the internet to find the local or national archives and Libraries of that area.