THE AMBER WITCH. THE MOST INTERESTING TRIAL FOR WITCHCRAFT EVEN KNOWN. PRINTED FROM AN IMPERFECT MANUSCRIPT BY HER FATHER ABRAHAM SCWEIDLER, THE PASTOR OF COSEROW, IN THE ISLAND OF USEDOM.
Book Details + Condition: John Murray (London). Early Edition, 1861. Hardcover (12 mo) with green boards; gilt titling to spine. 171 pages. By Mary Schweidler, edited by Wilhelm Meinhold, and translated from the German by Lady Duff Gordon. "The Amber Witch" was a German novel published in 1838, originally published as a literary hoax which purported to be an actual 17th-century chronicle. Meinhold later admitted to the hoax, but had difficulty in proving that he was its author. In 1844, it was published in England as THE AMBER WITCH, which was translated by Lucie, Lady Duff-Gordon (this copy, currently for sale). Lady Duff Gordon's translation was popular with the Victorians, going through numerous editions, and was even made into an opera with the same title. Meinhold claimed to have discovered a manuscript written by a 17th-century minister; the manuscript contained the story of the pastor's daughter Maria, the "Amber Witch". The tale was described by Meinhold in the subtitle of the novel as "the most interesting trial for witchcraft ever known". When it first appeared, German critics believed it was an authentic historical document. The work attracted critical notice, not only for the dramatic nature of its narrative but also for disputes about which parts of it were original and which were Meinhold's reconstructions, written in imitation of the 17th-century style.
PROVENANCE: From the massive occult collection of Dr. Alan Gauld (1932–2024), distinguished British psychologist, parapsychologist, and historian of psychical research based at the University of Nottingham. His library included significant works on mediumship, hypnotism, and the founders of psychical research, often marked with his ownership inscriptions or ex libris labels. He authored many respected works, including The Founders of Psychical Research (1968), Mediumship and Survival (1982), and A History of Hypnotism (1992). Firm binding; shelf wear to boards, with some darkening / fading present; rubbing to edges; darkening and mottling to spine, with chafed ends; book / spine is cocked; Gauld's ex libris to inside front board (along with the bookplate of a British lord), and inked names to ffep; darkening to small portion of top edge of last several pages; toning to endpapers and interior, which is otherwise clean and free of markings. All books are carefully packed, and shipped in boxes.
