''Magnalia Christi Americana'' (roughly, ''The Glorious Works of Christ in America'') is a book published in 1702 by the

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

minister

Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting H ...

(1663–1728). Its title is in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, but its subtitle is in English: ''The Ecclesiastical History of New England from Its First Planting in 1620, until the Year of Our Lord 1698''. It was generally written in English and printed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

"for Thomas Parkhurst, at the Bible and Three Crowns,

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...

." It consists of seven "books" collected into two volumes, and it details the religious development of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and other nearby colonies in New England from 1620 to 1698. Notable parts of the book include Mather's descriptions of the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

, in which he criticizes some of the methods of the court and attempts to distance himself from the event; his account of the escape of

Hannah Duston Hannah Duston (also spelled Dustin, Dustan, or Durstan) (born Hannah Emerson, December 23, 1657 – March 6, 1736,

, one of the best known

captivity narratives Captivity narratives are usually stories of people captured by enemies whom they consider uncivilized, or whose beliefs and customs they oppose. The best-known captivity narratives in North America are those concerning Europeans and Americans ta ...

; his account of the captivity and ransom of

Hannah Swarton Hannah Swarton (1651 - 12 October 1708), née Joana Hibbert, was a New England colonial pioneer who was captured by Abenaki Indians and held prisoner for years, first in an Abenaki community and later in the home of a French family in Quebec. S ...

; his complete "catalogus" of all the students who graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, the story of the founding of Harvard College itself; and his assertions that Puritan slaveholders should do more to convert their slaves to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Mather's first edition of the book was published in London in 1702. A second edition - the first published in the United States - was printed in 1820 in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

by Silas Andrus and Son, who also produced a third edition in 1855. Robbins reprinted an edition in 1852 and 1967, which is the only complete reprinting of the first edition. A 1977 reprint of small selections, with extensive footnotes, was produced for Belknap Press by Kenneth Ballard Murdock.

External links

''Magnalia Christi Americana''
Online copy of John Adams' 1702 edition at the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

1702 books History books about the United States 18th-century Christian texts History of Christianity texts {{Christian-book-stub

See also

Further reading

External links