There is no subject in early American history that elicits more interest among the general public and undergraduate students than Salem witchcraft. It has sustained a vibrant tourist industry in Salem, Massachusetts, has prompted Hollywood films, educational documentaries, numerous novels and an unceasing flow of scholarly books and articles. Over the years there have been a number of editions of contemporary records, the most recent printed collection prior to this time being Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum (eds), The Salem witchcraft papers: verbatim transcripts of the legal documents of the Salem witchcraft outbreak of 1692 (New York 1977).

In recent years those interested in the episode could consult the free, on-line ‘Salem witchcraft documentary archive and transcription project’ (http://etext.virigia.edu/salem/witchcraft/home.html) hosted by the University of Virginia. Visitors to the site can consult transcriptions of the legal documents but can also look at images of the records. They can examine and search contemporary books dealing with the episode. They can access essays on individuals who were involved in the cases. They can explore maps of the region, including those that show the locations of the principal figures. Another section links to major literary works dealing with Salem witchcraft, including selections by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Greenleaf Whittier. The site is a model for the web-based presentation of material dealing with a significant historical episode.

Given the strengths and accessibility of the ‘Salem witchcraft project’, the obvious question to ask is what purpose a new print collection of the records serves, particularly since Bernard Rosenthal, the general editor, is the editor-in-chief of the web version. But for individuals and libraries who can afford it, there are features of this book that make it worthwhile.

One of the critical advances of this edition is the fact that seventy-one additional documents were identified and included that are not available on the project website. Existing transcripts were also reviewed and corrected when needed, with each transcription tested against the manuscript by at least four editors. In many cases the original recorder of the testimony is identified. Another improvement is that fact that the documents in this edition are presented in chronological order, regardless of the collection in which they are held. This creates a chronology of the events which will prove very useful. Each document is titled and has valuable notation. Documents that were actually used at trials are identified.

An important goal of this new edition was to provide a resource for language scholars working on early American English. To this end the editors eschewed modernisation and present the documents according to seventeenth-century usage. The benefits of this and an analysis of the documents are the subject of a thirty-page linguistic introduction.

Bernard Rosenthal opens the collection with a general introduction that clearly sets forth the events as they are generally agreed by scholars, and then discusses areas where there is disagreement. This includes a lengthy discussion of spectral evidence and various issues of fraud. Richard B. Trask provides an introduction to ‘Legal procedures used during the Salem witch trials and a brief history of the published versions of the records’, which is indispensable for understanding what the documents in the collection actually represent. A discussion of the ‘Chronological arrangement’ by Rosenthal and Margo Burns explains how the various records were dated and how different documents with the same date are ordered. Students of religious history will note that there is little discussion of the theology of witchcraft at this time. There is also little effort to place the Salem episode into the broader context of Anglo-American or global witchcraft. Of course this could be said to be beyond the scope of this large volume, which is designed to present the documents for this particular event.

Anyone who is interested in the witchcraft crisis that centered on Salem in 1692 will want to consult if not own this volume. It supersedes the web-based project as far as the presentation of the source documents is concerned. Scholars and others interested will still want to consult the web-site for maps and other useful information.