Magic and witchcraft

Immerse yourself in the magic of the Folger and the early modern world with our new game “A Night at the Library” paired with recipes for two conjuring cocktails to enhance playing.

Uncover the world of cunning folk in Shakespeare’s England, as scholar Tabitha Stanmore reveals how these magic practitioners helped everyone from commoners to royalty with their practical spells and charms.

Tabitha Stanmore tells the story of a 15th-century widow hiring a magic practitioner in this excerpt from her book “Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic.”

As we enter the year’s spookiest month, explore a trio of contemporary novels that involve early modern witchcraft. Much has changed since the deadly witch hunts of Shakespeare’s era, and the contrasting approaches of these books are a good way…

Shakespeare’s witches haven’t always terrified audiences. For a century and more – from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries – actors played these parts for laughs. During the period in which Shakespeare became “the Bard”, the witches in…

Worried about encountering witches like Macbeth this All Hallows Eve? Turn to a witch-hunting manual such as the Malleus Maleficarum! This famous book, known as “The Hammer of Witches” in English, was written in the 15th century by a pair…

Prospero (Larry Yando) suspends his daughter Miranda (Eva Louise Balistreiri) in midair as the ever-watchful Ariel (Nate Dendy) assists his master in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of The Tempest, directed by Aaron Posner and Teller, in the Courtyard Theater, 2015.…