Primary Sources

Daemonologie
Written and published in 1597 by King James I of England.
Early Modern Europe: the Witch Hunt
Select primary source materials from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries pertaining to European witch hunts. Available from Hanover Historical Texts Project.
Malleus Maleficarum (1486)
This is the best known (i.e., the most infamous) of the witch-hunt manuals. Written in Latin, the Malleus was first submitted to the University of Cologne on May 9th, 1487. The title is translated as "The Hammer of Witches". Written by James Sprenger and Henry Kramer (of which little is known), the Malleus remained in use for three hundred years. It had tremendous influence in the witch trials in England and on the continent. This translation is in the public domain.
Project Gutenberg: Witchcraft
Primary source material on the history of European witch trials, including:
Witchcraft Collection
Online selecton of titles from Cornell University Library's witchcraft collection, covering the history of superstition and witchcraft persecution in Europe. It documents the earliest and the latest manifestations of the belief in witchcraft as well as its geographical boundaries, and elaborates this history with works on canon law, the Inquisition, torture, demonology, trial testimony, and narratives. The collection focuses on witchcraft as as theology and as religious heresy.
Witchcraft e-Books
Downloadable witchcraft ebooks.

Find articles

Use these library databases to find articles on witch trials and other topics.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Learn more about your topic. Use Credo to find background information, and identify key words to use as you continue your research. Credo is authoritative alternative to Wikipedia.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Start your research here. Find scholarly articles from history journals, generally from the first volume ever published, through three years ago.
Humanities Source This link opens in a new window
After you've tried JSTOR, use World History Collection. It includes magazines and scholarly journals pertaining to history.
World History Collection This link opens in a new window
Use Humanities Source next. This database contains peer-reviewed articles in all fields of the humanities, including history.

Find books

Search the library catalog or an eBook collection:

Begley Library Catalog This link opens in a new window
Use this to find books and DVDs in Begley Library, as well as ebooks to access online.
eBook Central This link opens in a new window
Use this to find ebooks in many academic subject areas. To search this and other ebook collections all at once, use the Begley Library catalog advanced search, limited to collection: electronic resources / ebook.
eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
Use this to find ebooks in academic subject areas. To search this and other ebook collections all at once, use the Begley Library catalog advanced search, limited to collection: electronic resources / ebook.

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What is a primary source?

Primary sources are materials that provide first-hand information that is factual, without analysis or interpretation. The accounts may be from the time they occurred or created at a later date by someone with first-hand knowledge; for example, a memoir.

Types of primary source materials may be words, images, or objects.

Some examples are:

Artifacts like fossils, furnuture, clothing, pottery or jewelry
Original works of art, literature, or music; e.g., a novel or a painting
Autobiographies (not biographies)
Correspondence
Government documents; e.g., laws, presidential papers
Vital records like birth certificates
Diaries, letters, interviews, manuscripts
Personal narratives
Photographs, postcards, maps
Published results of clinical trials or experiments
Newspaper and magazine articles that contain first-hand factual accounts