Raising Spirits: How a Conjuror’s Tale Was Transmitted across the Enlightenment

Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic

by Jonathan Barry

Despite supernatural scepticism, stories about spirits were regularly printed and shared throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. This case-study in the transmission of a single story (of a young gunsmith near Bristol conjuring spirits, leading to his early death) reveals both how and why successive generations found meaning in such accounts.

Genres: Nonfiction

156 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013