Secrets of Black Arts!

What It's About

Published in Baltimore in 1900 by I. & M. Ottenheimer, this is a wide-ranging Victorian-era compendium on witchcraft and the supernatural. It has no named author — it was compiled by the publisher, drawing together anecdotes, historical accounts, and folklore rather than presenting a single argument. Topics range from the theological question of the Devil's nature and famous witch-finders like Matthew Hopkins, to apparitions, prophetic dreams, and superstitions such as the folklore of pins and the use of divining rods. The book closes with an extended account of the Salem witch trials, presented as its centrepiece.

Key Concepts

Recurring themes include witch-finding and persecution, omens and forewarnings, prophetic dreams and visions, apparitions of the living and dead, and folk remedies and charms. The Salem witchcraft chapter anchors the collection, framing the earlier, more scattered material within a specific historical episode.

About the Author

No individual author is credited. The book was compiled and issued by I. & M. Ottenheimer, a Baltimore publishing house active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that specialised in inexpensive popular volumes on subjects like fortune-telling, dream interpretation, and folklore.