Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft

By: Sir Walter Scott

Narrated by: Eric Brooks

In ill health following a stroke, Sir Walter Scott wrote Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft at the behest of his son-in-law, J. G. Lockhart, who worked for a publishing firm. The book proved popular, and Scott was paid £600, which he desperately needed. (Despite his success as a novelist, Scott was almost ruined when the Ballantyne publishing firm, where he was a partner, went bankrupt in 1826.)

Letters was written when educated society believed itself in enlightened times due to advances in modern science. Letters, however, revealed that all social classes still held beliefs in ghosts, witches, warlocks, fairies, elves, diabolism, the occult, and even werewolves. Sourcing from prior 16th- and 17th-century treatises on demonology, along with contemporary accounts from England, Europe, and North America (Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi, for one), Scott's discourses on the psychological, religious, physical, and preternatural explanations for these beliefs are essential for acolytes of the dark and macabre; the letters dealing with witch hunts, trials (Letters Eight and Nine), and torture are morbidly compelling.

Scott was neither fully pro-rational modernity nor totally anti-superstitious past, as his skepticism of one of the "new" sciences (skullology, as he calls it) is made clear in a private letter to a friend. Thus, Letters is both a personal and intellectual examination of conflicting belief systems, at a time when popular science began to challenge superstition in earnest.

Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

very interesting and entertaining.

this glance at history was quite interesting and engaging. I recommend for anyone who is fascinated by the trials and torments of perceived witches.

Interesting...

This book accounts for an array of things from the best of Sir Walter Scott's understanding. Largely it details the trial and execution of alleged witches. The latter part of the book focuses on the author's dismissal of ghosts. The early part reflects on accounts within the Bible in regards to witches. It's interesting and overall charming.

Good period research

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

As an academic resource this is a great book. However, it lacks any real narrative and seeks to "debunk" each and eery aspect of the supernatural. Which is okay, but not as interesting as the social and cultural effects of "demons and witches."

What was most disappointing about Walter Scott’s story?

The dry, non-committal description. The prose is lackluster and laden with opinion and attitude not story.

What three words best describe Eric Brooks’s performance?

Confident and Competent

Did Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft inspire you to do anything?

I expanded my research several degrees and was able to pinpoint a time period in which I was going to do more research.

Any additional comments?

Get the print version - this is a seek and cite book for academic purposes, not a story book for entertainment. I'd gladly add it to my shelves but the audio version is a bit harder to cite.

Fascinating

I didn't quite know what to expect that this ends up being a screed against credulousness and superstition. but you also get to hear all the wonderful tales of witches and ghosts! the narrator is interesting, feel like he'd be well-suited reading a children's story.

Some good folklore

Scott spends a lot of time trying convince the reader that witchcraft prosecutions are wrong