RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF MAGIC by Keith Thomas, 1st/1st 1971 HC/DJ Witchcraft

  RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF MAGIC by Keith Thomas ~ First US Edition / First Printing, 1971 HC/DJ ~ Witchcraft Occult Magic

 Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York (1971)

A scarce first American edition, first printing of "Religion and the Decline of Magic" by Keith Thomas from 1971. The book is in excellent condition with solid boards and binding save for a bump on the top front board fore-edge. The pages are crisp and clean. No interior writing present. The dust jacket is in excellent condition with minor shelfwear and two small repaired tears on the tops of the front and back jacket. 716 pages. "Religion & the Decline of Magic" is Keith Thomas's classic history of the magical beliefs held by people on every level of English society in the 16th and 17th centuries and how these beliefs were a part of the religious and scientific assumptions of the time. It is not only a major historical and religious work, but a thoroughly enjoyable book filled with fascinating facts and original insights into an area of human nature that remains controversial today — the belief in the supernatural that still continues in the modern world. Contents include Prayer and Prophecy; Magic of the Medieval Church; Magical Healing; Magic and Religion; Astrology and Religion; Ancient Prophecies; Witchcraft and Religion; The Making of a Witch; Ghosts and Fairies; Times and Omens; and much more.