aft in England to the
accession of the great Queen.

For the study of the period to be covered in this monograph there exists
a wealth of material. It would perhaps not be too much to say that
everything in print and manuscript in England during the last half of
the sixteenth and the entire seventeenth century should be read or at
least glanced over. The writer has limited himself to certain kinds of
material from which he could reasonably expect to glean information.
These sources fall into seven principal categories. Most important of
all are the pamphlets, or chapbooks, dealing with the history of
particular alarms and trials and usually concluding with the details of
confession and execution. Second only to them in importance are the
local or municipal records, usually court files, but sometimes merely
expense accounts. In the memoirs and diaries can be found many mentions
of trials witnessed by the diarist or described to him. The newspapers
of the time, in their eagerness to exploit the unusual, seize gloatingly
upon the stories of witchcraft. The works of local historians and
antiquarians record in their lists of striking and extraordinary events
within their counties or boroughs the several trials and hangings for
the crime. The writers, mainly theologians, who discuss the theory and
doctrine of witchcraft illustrate the principles they lay down by cases
that have fallen under their observation. Lastly, the state papers
contain occasional references to the activities of the Devil and of his
agents in the realm.

Besides these seven types of material there should be named a few others
less important. From the pamphlet accounts of the criminal dockets at
the Old Bailey and Newgate, leaflets which were published at frequent
intervals after the Restoration, are to be gleaned mentions of perhaps
half a dozen trials for witchcraft. The plays of Dekker, Heywood, and
Shadwell must be used by the student, not because they add information
omitted elsewhere, but because they offer some clue to the way in which
the witches at Edmonton and Lancaster were regarded by the public. If
the pamphlet narrative of the witch of Edmonton had been lost, it might
be possible to reconstruct from the play of Dekker, Ford, and Rowley
some of the outlines of the story. It would be at best a hazardous
undertaking. To reconstruct the trials at Lancaster from the plays of
Heywood and Brome or from that of Shadwell would be quite impossible.