THE AMBER WITCH – 1st 1844 – WITCH TRIALS, WITCHCRAFT, SATAN, LITERARY HOAX
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). First Edition thus, 1844. Hardcover with marbled boards and three-quarter leather binding. 171 pp. By Mary Schweidler. Edited by Wilhelm Meinhold, and translated from the German by Lady Duff Gordon. Bound with SELECT BIOGRAPHIES: CROMWELL AND BUNYAN, by Robert Southey (180 pp). “The Amber Witch” is a German novel published in 1838; it was 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, and went 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 When it first appeared, almost all of the German critics believed it was an authentic historical document.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.
Interior hinges cracked but binding remains firm (appears to be an old re-gluing job to front board); rubbed corners and edges; normal aging and wear to boards, with some rubbing; age-darkening to spine; bookplate to inside front board; foxing to first few pages, with normal toning to remainder; interior is otherwise clean and free of markings.
