Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall - Couverture rigide

LaPlante, Eve

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0060786612 ISBN 13 : 9780060786618

Editeur : HarperOne, 2007

Synopsis

Book by Eve LaPlante

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

In 1692 Puritan Samuel Sewall sent twenty people to their deaths on trumped-up witchcraft charges. The nefarious witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts represent a low point of American history, made famous in works by Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne (himself a descendant of one of the judges), and Arthur Miller. The trials might have doomed Sewall to infamy except for a courageous act of contrition now commemorated in a mural that hangs beneath the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House picturing Sewall's public repentance. He was the only Salem witch judge to make amends.

But, remarkably, the judge's story didn't end there. Once he realized his error, Sewall turned his attention to other pressing social issues. Struck by the injustice of the New England slave trade, a commerce in which his own relatives and neighbors were engaged, he authored "The Selling of Joseph," America's first antislavery tract. While his peers viewed Native Americans as savages, Sewall advocated for their essential rights and encouraged their education, even paying for several Indian youths to attend Harvard College. Finally, at a time when women were universally considered inferior to men, Sewall published an essay affirming the fundamental equality of the sexes. The text of that essay, composed at the deathbed of his daughter Hannah, is republished here for the first time.

In Salem Witch Judge, acclaimed biographer Eve LaPlante, Sewall's great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, draws on family lore, her ancestor's personal diaries, and archival documents to open a window onto life in colonial America, painting a portrait of a man traditionally vilified, but who was in fact an innovator and forefather who came to represent the best of the American spirit.

Revue de presse :

LaPlante’s touching biography seems hauntingly timely. Beneath the sensational title is a figure more familiar than we realize. (New York Times Book Review)

An intriguing journey into a world as far away as colonial America - and yet as close as the human heart. (Christian Science Monitor)

“LaPlante’s splendid biography brings a personal touch to Sewall’s story and his efforts to take the difficult but righteous path.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Insightful...a reformative, assenting spin on Salem’s hellfire and brimstone history.” (Kirkus Reviews)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: HarperOne
• Date d'édition: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0060786612
• ISBN 13: 9780060786618
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 368