There is a Halloween theme to this term’s Featured Book from the Gonville & Caius College Lower Library.

Each term a member of the Library staff selects a text from the College’s historic collections. Saducismus triumphatus or Full and Plain Evidence Concerning Witches and Apparitions, by Joseph Glanvill was the text chosen by Hannah Thompsett, Assistant Librarian (Bibliographic Support).

Glanvill (1636-1680) was a clergyman in the Church of England, and a member of the Royal Society. He believed that atheism and superstition could be disproved by the study of science. In service of this belief in 1666 he began publishing his arguments for the existence of witches, including tales of phantom drummers, women flying through windows, and levitating furniture. 

Visit Hannah’s article on the book – and if you are a Caian you can request to see the text itself.

The full series of Featured Books is on the Library pages of the website, as are the Library’s Online exhibitions.