Witchcraft and Demonology in South-West England, 1640–1789 by Jonathan Barry (review)

This book contributes to a growing movement in witchcraft studies that has extended the field beyond the traditional focus on the period of the witch trials. Following an introduction that provides a concise, but successful, overview of current thinking, Barry presents six case studies from the South West, designed to be read independently. The book will therefore be of use both to those only interested in each particular case and to those seeking a broader overview. Rather than a narrative account, each chapter provides a detailed close reading of the sources, offering a consideration of the nature of the evidence for the history of witchcraft and how we go about constructing historiographical narratives.

Chapter 2 considers Somerset JP Robert Hunt, given somewhat bad press in older historiography as a would-be witchfinder. Joseph Glanvill’s demonological treatise was addressed to him, and Hunt’s account of the trial he over-saw in 1665 was a key component of the collection of narratives published by Glanvill. The accounts stand out because they describe witches’ meetings, rare in English witchcraft belief. Previously ascribed to the persecutory fantasies of Hunt himself, Barry methodically picks apart the possible origins of these ideas, drawing out potential parallels with local dissenting religious groups. Witchcraft appears here as part of a JP’s ordinary duties, rather than a Satanic conspiracy played out by fanatical zealots.

Chapter 3 explores the trial of the Bideford Witches (1682), “the last clearly documented English case which led to executions” (58). (There may have been a further execution for witchcraft in 1685, also in the South West, but it cannot be confirmed.) The case is well documented precisely because it was unusual; there had been few executions for witchcraft since 1660. Barry provides a concise and entertaining summary of previous historiographical (and dramatic) treatments of this well-known case, and meticulously works through the archival sources and printed accounts. He picks out in rich detail the circumstances of a case that, despite relatively abundant documentation, remains full of uncertainty, meaning different things to different people. Barry’s text is alive to the ways in which even pamphlet accounts, unreliable as sources for “what really happened,” have something to tell us about historical beliefs and attitudes; while they may not represent the truth of the trial, they are themselves a historical truth, worthy of study in their own right.

Chapter 4 explores the political, religious, and commercial context of Richard Bovet’s Pandaemonium (1684). The treatise’s (and its publishers’) antipapal, pro-Whig agenda comes to the fore, reinforcing the connection of witchcraft with these wider ideological disputes, but in a way that illustrates that such connections did not always go in the same direction. Bovet has usually been seen as a minor player following in the wake of Glanvill; though this is largely true, Barry adds detail to the picture by drawing out the subtle differences between their positions. While Barry’s acknowledgment of the importance of publication context is welcome, a minor criticism here is that there were not two editions of Bovet’s treatise, as Barry states, but one edition in two different issues, a common publishing practice—the treatise was not successful enough to warrant two editions.

Chapter 5 offers a study of John Beaumont FRS, author of A Historical, Physiological and Theological Treatise of Spirits, Apparitions, Witchcrafts and Other Magical Practices (1705). Barry argues for continuity between Beaumont’s early experimentalism in natural philosophy and geology, and his later interest in the occult, against the way Beaumont’s career has traditionally been read, locating it all in the tradition of hermetic philosophy. Beaumont—a Catholic accused of enthusiasm, with connections to many leading intellectuals (including Hooke, Aubrey and Sloane)—is placed firmly in context via his familial, local, and intellectual connections.

Chatper 6 discusses a Bristol possession case from 1761...