A collection of free-use texts on witchcraft, magic, and related topics. Shared with Dropbox
Hello, witches! Since I’m always harping on about learning your history and checking your sources, I thought I’d help folks get a head start by compiling some source material.
To that end, I’ve started a Dropbox folder with a stash of historical texts on witchcraft, magic, and related topics. Nearly everything I’ve managed to find so far is public domain (thank you Project Gutenberg), with the exception of a very thorough herbal grimoire I found online some years ago and a book of witchcraft from the 1970s that appears to be out of print.
I will be continuing in this vein with future texts that I find. Everything will be public domain or cited to the source that it came from, in PDF format. I will NOT be including PDFs of any book currently in circulation with a copyright linked to a living author or estate. The point of this folder is that everything in it should be free for sharing and open use as research materials.
Below is the initial list of titles. I tried to include as many as I could find, with a focus on some oft-cited classics. I will be adding new texts as I find them.
A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and the Second Sight, by David Webster (1820)
A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718, by Wallace Notestein (1909)
British Goblins, Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions, by Wirt Sikes (1880)
Curiosities of Superstition, by W. H. Davenport Adams (1882)
Daemonologie, by King James I/VI (1597)
Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, Edited and Selected by W. B. Yeats (1888)
Irish Witchcraft and Demonology, by St. John Drelincourt Seymour (1913)
La Sorcière, or The Witch of the Middle Ages, by Jules Michelet (1863)
Lives of the Necromancers, by William Godwin (1834)
Magic and Fetishism, by Alfred C. Haddon (1906)
Magic and Witchcraft, by Anonymous (1852)
Modern Magic, by M. Schele de Vere (1873)
Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics, by Richard Folkard (1884)
Practical Psychomancy and Crystal Gazing, by William Walker Atkinson (1908)
The Devil in Britain and America, by John Ashton (1896)
The Discoverie of Witchcraft, by Reginald Scot (1594, 1886 reprint)
The Extremely Large Herbal Grimoire (date unknown, internet publication)
The Golden Bough : A Study of Magic and Religion, by Sir James George Frazer (1890)
The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, by L.W. de Laurence (1918)
The Magic of the Horse-shoe, by Robert Means Lawrence (1898)
The Mysteries of All Nations, by James Grant (1880)
The Mystery and Romance of Alchemy and Pharmacy, by Charles John Samuel Thompson (1897)
The Superstitions of Witchcraft, by Howard Williams (1865)
The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut by John M. Taylor (1908)
The Wonders of the Invisible World, by Cotton Mather and A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches, by Increase Mather (1693, 1862 reprint)
Witch Stories, by E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn) Linton (1861)
Witch, Warlock, And Magician, by W. H. Davenport Adams (1889)
Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland, by John Gregorson Campbell (1902)
Witches’ Potions & Spells, ed. by Kathryn Paulsen (1971)
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that these texts are (with few exceptions) more than a century old, and may contain depictions, references, or language that are outdated and inappropriate. The point of including these documents is to provide access to historical texts for research and reference. Inclusion in the collection does not equal unconditional agreement with or wholesale approval of the contents.
Take everything with a grain of salt and remember to do your due diligence!
Happy Witching! -Bree
