The war on witchcraft : Andrew Dickson White, George Lincoln Burr, and the origins of witchcraft historiography /
Machielsen, Johannes M.,1984-author.
"Historians of the early modern witch-hunt often begin histories of their field with the theories propounded by Margaret Murray and Montague Summers in the 1920s. They overlook the lasting impact of nineteenth-century scholarship, in particular the contributions by two American historians: Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918) and George Lincoln Burr (1857-1938). Study of their work and scholarly personae contributes to our understanding of the deeply embedded popular understanding of the witch-hunt as representing an irrational past in opposition to an enlightened present. Yet the men's relationship with each other, and with witchcraft sceptics -- the heroes of their studies -- also demonstrates how their writings were part of a larger war against 'unreason'. This Element thus lays bare the ways scholarly masculinity helped shape witchcraft historiography, a field of study often seen as dominated by feminist scholarship. Such meditation on past practice may foster reflection on contemporary models of history writing"--
Includes bibliographical references (pages [48]-59).
1. 'Ding! Dong! The witch is dead' -- 2. Two historians on a double date : White and Burr meet Flade and Loos -- 3. History and a reformer's project of reform -- 4. The reformer's apprentice -- 5. Meditations on masculinity -- 6. Reflections.
"Historians of the early modern witch-hunt often begin histories of their field with the theories propounded by Margaret Murray and Montague Summers in the 1920s. They overlook the lasting impact of nineteenth-century scholarship, in particular the contributions by two American historians: Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918) and George Lincoln Burr (1857-1938). Study of their work and scholarly personae contributes to our understanding of the deeply embedded popular understanding of the witch-hunt as representing an irrational past in opposition to an enlightened present. Yet the men's relationship with each other, and with witchcraft sceptics -- the heroes of their studies -- also demonstrates how their writings were part of a larger war against 'unreason'. This Element thus lays bare the ways scholarly masculinity helped shape witchcraft historiography, a field of study often seen as dominated by feminist scholarship. Such meditation on past practice may foster reflection on contemporary models of history writing"--
White, Andrew Dickson, 1832-1918.
Burr, George Lincoln, 1857-1938.
Witchcraft