Views of the Salem "Witch House"

[Salem Witch Trials]: [Photography]:

Old Witch House, Salem, Mass. Built Before 1634 [caption title].

Salem, Ma: Upton & Frisbee, [ca. 1900]. Albumen photocollage, 4 x 5.5 inches, on a slightly larger printed studio mount. Minor surface wear and toning. Very good. Item #12750

A wonderful relic of the continuing fascination with the Salem Witch Trials, featuring four views of Salem's "Witch House" in a photocollage format produced in Salem around the turn of the 20th century. First built and inhabited by Roger Williams sometime before 1634, the house was later occupied by Jonathan Curwen (or Corwin), Esquire, described here as "one of the judges during the witchcraft trials." The photocollage itself includes four illustrations -- the original house, the house following "alterations in 1780," the "rear of the house after 1780," and the house "at the present time." The photograph was produced by Edwin N. Peabody, active in Salem from the 1870s to 1890s, and published by the local pharmacy Upton & Frisbee, which occupied the house beginning in the late-19th century. The verso of the photocollage is printed with detailed information on the "Witch House," mostly encapsulated in eight paragraphs about the "Witchcraft Delusion of 1692" itself. The building was renovated again in 1945 and still stands today as one of the only remaining structures with direct ties to the witch trials.

Price: $350