Two Important Early Accounts of the Infamous Salem Witchcraft Trials Based on Primary Sources, with Notes and Explanations by Samuel P. Fowler.
Published in 1693, Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather 1663-1728] is an account of selected trials written at the request of the judges, who wished to address claims of impropriety. Though he believed in witchcraft, Mather was critical of the judges' conduct when the trials were underway. After reading the transcripts, however, he concluded that the verdicts rested on ample evidence according to the standards of English and American...