63 First edition of the principal account of one of the key witchcraft trials of the 17th century, a psychiatric and legal cornerstone so influential upon Cotton Mather that “the Salem witch-hunts might not have taken place if there had not been a trial at Bury St. Edmonds.” According to the charges listed in this work, Rose Cullender and Amy Drury, two elderly widows, had caused children to become suddenly and violently ill, to vomit nails and pins, and to see mice, ducks, and flies invisible to others. The pair was ultimately hanged, though neither confessed to being a witch. “The case… strongly influenced the most notable of America’s witchcraft prosecutions, the Salem trials of 1692. Indeed, the Salem witch-hunts might not have taken place if there had not been a trial at Bury St. Edmonds” (Bunn & Geis 7). Sir Thomas Browne, a noted physician to whom A Tryal of Witches has been attributed, was the prosecution’s medical expert. He asserted during the assize that “the persons were Bewitched… [since] the Devil in such cases did work upon the Bodies of Men and Women… to stir up, and excite such humours super-abounding in their Bodies to a great excess, whereby he did... Afflict them with such Distempers as their Bodies were most subject to” (41). “Browne’s testimony in support of the reality of witchcraft may be the first documented example of expert testimony by a physician in reference to a psychiatric issue” (Norman Library 966). A few spots to title page; a couple of leaves closely cropped at top margin. A near-fine copy. Possibly “The First Example Of Expert Testimony By A Physician In Reference To A Psychiatric Issue” 81(BROWNE, Thomas) (HALE, Sir Matthew). A Tryal of Witches, at the Assizes Held at Bury St. Edmonds for the County of Suffolk; on the Tenth day of March, 1664. London, 1682. 12mo, 19th-century three-quarter red morocco gilt. $15,000
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