The Wonders of the Invisible World plunges into the Salem witch trials as both a historical record and a fierce defense of New England's prosecutions. Cotton Mather, joined by Increase Mather's supporting account, presents the 1692 panic as a real assault from Satan on a once-pious colony that has drifted from its founders' purity. Framed by letters of praise from ministers and magistrates, the book casts its author as a reluctant but necessary witness, determined to guide readers through a spiritual crisis and rebut growing criticism. Blending theology, courtroom testimony, and demonology, Mather gathers examinations of the accused, reports of afflictions and apparitions, and arguments about possession, spectral evidence, confessions, and the signs by which witchcraft might be judged. He insists that Scripture, testimony, and extraordinary behavior can justify conviction, even as he wrestles with the danger of error. The grim trial of Elizabeth How stands as one chilling example. Rare and revealing, this text captures the fear, faith, and judicial confusion that defined Salem and its lasting aftermath. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
