The Discoverie of Witchcraft is Reginald Scot's own sixteenth century primary text arguing that people accused of witchcraft were typically deluded, ill or defrauded rather than genuinely guilty of the crimes charged, and it includes an English translation of Weyer's demon catalogue within it. The year recorded, 1584, is the first edition; a later enlarged edition of 1665 has been demonstrated, through specific spellings and errors unique to that printing, to be the direct textual ancestor of the Goetia material this atlas also holds, a traceable textual lineage rather than an assumed one. Use it to establish what Scot's own argument said and to trace the specific 1665 printing's role in later grimoire history.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Reginald Scot's sixteenth-century primary text arguing that accused witches were typically deluded, ill or defrauded; the later 1665 enlarged edition has been demonstrated, by spellings and errors unique to that printing, to be the direct textual ancestor of the Goetia. NotesSceptical work arguing that accused witches were deluded, ill or defrauded. Contains an English translation of Weyer's catalogue. Year given is that of the first edition; the enlarged edition of 1665 is the one demonstrated to be the direct ancestor of the Goetia's text, by errors and spellings unique to that printing.
Citation
AuthorReginald Scot
PublisherElliot Stock
This is an 1886 reprint; Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft was first published in 1584. Publication Year1584
URLhttps://archive.org/details/discoverieofwitc00scot
Source Typeprimary-text
Claims Backed By This Source (245 claims)
This source backs 245 claims across the atlas. As facts: 168 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate. Plus 75 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Goetic Demons, 216 claims: 144 well-attested, 72 general references.
- Esoteric Texts, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
- Historical Figures, 7 claims: 4 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
- Articles, 5 claims: 5 well-attested.
- Sacred Objects & Ritual Items, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Well-attested
168Showing 1 to 50 of 80 entities carrying this claim. Next
General References
75Showing 1 to 50 of 75 entities carrying this claim. Next
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