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This online exhibition was first published in 2017 by Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. It accompanied and featured content from a physical exhibition of rare materials displayed in Cornell University’s Carl A. Kroch Library from October 31, 2017 to August 31, 2018. Cornell University Library archived the original version of the online exhibition in 2024 to preserve its earlier design. This version maintains access to the original images and text within an updated website.
“The World Bewitch’d” is an exhibition exploring the origins and spread of the belief in witchcraft across Europe. Featuring rare and unique books and documents—from 15th-century witch hunting manuals to 20th-century movie posters—the exhibition examines themes such as gendered stereotypes, belief in night flying, shapeshifting, demonic pacts, and the witch epidemics that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands. The World Bewitch’d offers a rare glimpse of the treasures of the Cornell Witchcraft Collection, established by Cornell University’s first president, Andrew Dickson White, and now the largest in North America with more than 3,000 items.