John M. Taylor's The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut is a concise but richly documentary study of the witchcraft prosecutions that preceded and paralleled the more famous Salem outbreak. Drawing on court records, colonial statutes, depositions, and local histories, Taylor reconstructs the legal and theological climate in which suspicion became accusation and accusation could become death. His style is sober, archival, and judicious, belonging to the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century tradition of antiquarian historical writing, yet animated by a clear moral interest in the dangers of communal fear. Taylor, a Connecticut lawyer and historical writer, was well positioned to examine the subject through its legal traces. His familiarity with judicial procedure and civic institutions informs his attention to indictments, verdicts, magistrates, and evidentiary habits. Writing at a time when regional historians were reassessing colonial New England's moral legacy, he sought to restore Connecticut's neglected place in the history of American witchcraft. This book is recommended for readers interested in colonial law, Puritan culture, and the social psychology of persecution. It is especially valuable as a compact, source-based corrective to Salem-centered narratives.
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