Witchcraft: rare manuscript of 'woeful witness' to 17th-century trial up for sale

Edward Fairfax’s account of the case he brought against six women in Fewston, North Yorkshire, details ‘the work of Sathan’ he saw

A rare copy of a manuscript detailing a 17th-century witchcraft trial in Fewston, North Yorkshire, has been discovered by an antiquarian bookseller.

A Discourse of Witchcrafte As It Was Acted in the Family of Mr Edward Fairfax of Fuistone was written by Fairfax himself, following the death of his youngest daughter in October 1621. It details the case he brought against six local women, and offers the “Christian reader a narration of Witchcraft of which I am a Woeful Witness”.

The text wasn’t printed until the 19th century, according to Tom Lintern-Mole of Antiquates booksellers, and the original is now believed lost. Only a small number of copies remain, one of which, made in the 18th century by the painter and antiquarian Thomas Beckwith and previously unrecorded, Lintern-Mole recently discovered for sale at a small London auction house. He is now selling the manuscript, priced at £7,500, at the rare book and art Ink Fair in London, which runs from 25-27 October.