In popular and in academic culture, the Salem witch trials have been absorbed into American imagination as few other events have. If assumptions as to what actually happened during that episode vary wildly between rigorous academic scrutiny and a persistently evoked cultural memory of a magic past that never was where witches were persecuted for their beliefs, the most basic beginning point for understanding the event must be the records that survive. Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt includes or references all known extant manuscripts and all known published documents of manuscripts no longer extant. The manuscripts have been transcribed from the original documents using editorial principles described later in the introductory material of this book. The principle of organization has been to present these newly transcribed documents, and previously published ones, in an order reflecting as accurately as possible their chronological occurrence. The goal has been to create a narrative through the documents as to what actually happened, and to identify when possible the people who recorded those documents.

Of the Salem witch trials, much has been written, and disagreements have inevitably been many. This edition will not settle those differences, but if it succeeds it will give the reader the most comprehensive, most carefully and consistently transcribed record ever produced of the Salem witch trials, as well as a chronological ordering of the documents. With this material before them, people researching these records will be able to do so with greater confidence that they can draw their conclusions from reliable data. Those doing very extensive research will, of course, recheck selected manuscripts themselves, but the edition should significantly ease the task of getting accessible, reliable information. At least that is the hope that the editors bring to this edition. With that goal in mind, exploring some key issues of the Salem witch trials, as well as a consideration of how this subject of witchcraft had been addressed previously in Massachusetts Bay and in England, may offer a useful beginning for visiting, or revisiting, some of the issues, historical and linguistic, that people may want to consider when examining the documents, their order, and the notes seeking to highlight pertinent matters.