''The Wonders of the Invisible World'' was a book written by

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 ...

and published in 1693. It was subtitled, ''Observations As well Historical as Theological, upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations of the Devils''. The book defended Mather's role in the

witchhunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...

conducted in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the ...

. It espoused the belief that

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

was an evil magical power. Mather saw witches as tools of the devil in Satan's battle to "overturn this poor plantation, the Puritan colony", and prosecution of witches as a way to secure God's blessings for the colony. Its arguments are largely derivative of '' Saducismus Triumphatus'' by

Joseph Glanvill Joseph Glanvill (1636 – 4 November 1680) was an English writer, philosopher, and clergyman. Not himself a scientist, he has been called "the most skillful apologist of the virtuosi", or in other words the leading propagandist for the approa ...

.Ankarloo, Bengt and Henningsen, Gustav (editors) Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries (1990). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 431-3. A copy of Glanvill's book was in Mather's library when he died.

Robert Calef Robert Calef (baptized 2 November 1648 – 13 April 1719) was a cloth merchant in colonial Boston. He was the author o''More Wonders of the Invisible World'' a book composed throughout the mid-1690s denouncing the recent Salem witch trials of 1692 ...

published a refutation of Mather's book in 1700.

Summary

Cotton Mather was born in 1663. After graduating 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 ...

, he followed in his father's footsteps, becoming pastor of the Second Church of Boston. He continued in this role from 1685 until his death in 1728. Mather began with an explanation of how the people of God were living in the devil's territories. He discussed the devil's plan to overturn the plantation and churches with the help of witches. "''...An army of devils is horribly broke in upon the place which is the center, and after a sort, the first-born of our English settlements...'' Mather prefaced the trials by saying he would recount them as a historian. One of the trials included was Martha Carrier's, who was " e person of whom the confessions of the witches, and of her own children among the rest, agreed that the devil had promised her she should be Queen of the Hebrews." Mather presented testimonies against Martha Carrier, all of which presumed her to be guilty.

Analysis

Point of view

Mather presented himself as an unbiased informer to the reader. He received his information from court records. He did not present defenses against the testimonies given.

Language

Mather’s background as a minister showed in his references to religion. Mather went into details on the traditional religious view of the Devil and witchcraft. Puritan colonists feared the perceived witches among themselves , "and the houses of the good people are filled with the doleful shrieks of their children and servants, tormented by invisible hands.".

Legacy

Mather's book inspired the title of the 2006 album ''

Last Days of Wonder ''Last Days of Wonder'' is the seventh studio album released by The Handsome Family. It was released 2006 by Carrot Top Records (North America) / Loose Music (Europe). The title is a reference to Puritan scientist and witch-hunter Cotton Mathe ...

'' by

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

band

The Handsome Family The Handsome Family is an American music duo consisting of husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks formed in Chicago, Illinois, and as of 2001 based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are perhaps best known for their song " Far from Any Road" from ...

; lyricist Rennie Sparks has stated she was intrigued by what she called its "madness brimming under the surface of things."

External links

*
The Wonders of the Invisible World
' in etext. *
The Wonders of the Invisible World
'(1693 edition) in PDF format. *

Notes

{{Authority control Supernatural books American witchcraft 1693 books Witchcraft treatises