ABSTRACT
Cotton Mather, who had been gathering information about the Salem witch trials for some time, agreed to prepare the text. On September 20, he wrote to Stephen Sewall of Salem, seeking further information and in the process making his intentions clear. In December 1692, Mather began to study Mercy Short. From her he learned that the Devil was 'a short and black mana wretch no taller than an ordinary walking staff'. As later historians would show, Cotton Mather's role in the Salem witch trials was more complex than Robert Calef suggested. In September 1693, Mather visited Salem to gather information for the completion of his magnus opus Magnalia Christi Americana. His purpose was to provide a history of God's divine will made manifest in New England, but the Devil's presence was not to be ignored. In 1722, Salem town minister Nicholas Noyes sued English for having called him a murderer, in reference to his role in the Salem witch trials.
