The Dark World of Witches

5b Eric Maple. London: Robert Hale Limited, 1962. First Edition

Notes

The Dark World of Witches (1962) by Eric Maple is a fascinating blend of folklore, anthropology, and true accounts exploring the persistence of witchcraft beliefs in rural England. Drawing from historical records, personal interviews, and old parish tales, Maple examines how witchcraft—far from vanishing with the Enlightenment—continued to shape local life, superstition, and fear well into the 19th and 20th centuries. The book discusses cunning folk, charms, curses, and rituals, presenting witchcraft not as fantasy but as a genuine part of folk tradition and psychology. With the tone of both a folklorist and skeptic, Maple captures the eerie intersection of magic, belief, and community in the English countryside, making the work a classic in the study of popular occultism and folk magic.

By the celebrated folklorist Eric Maple, best known for his studies of witchcraft, folk magic, and ‘cunning men’ in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Essex.

Description 

Grey cloth binging with gilt title to spine. Pictorial purple and black dust wrapper. Illustrated with 21 black and white plates. Fine condition.