On the morning of 20 March 1809, the woman who had earned herself the title of ‘The Yorkshire Witch’ was hanged upon York’s ‘New Drop’ gallows before an estimated crowd of 20,000 people. Some of those who came to see Mary Bateman die had traveled all the way from Leeds, many of them on foot, and many of them were doubtless the victims of her hoaxes and extortion. A consummate con-artist, Mary was extremely adept at identifying the psychological weaknesses of the desperate and poor who populated the growing industrial metropolis of Leeds at the turn of the nineteenth century. Exploiting their fears and terror of witchcraft, Mary Bateman was well placed to rob them of all their worldly goods, yet she did much more than cause misery and penury; though tried and convicted on a single murder charge, the contemporary branding of Bateman as a serial killer is doubtless accurate. Meticulously researched, this accessible, and at times shocking retelling of Mary Bateman’s life, and indeed her death, is the first since the publication chronicling her criminal career appeared in print in 1811, two years after her execution. Not only focusing on the details of her felonies and the consequences to her victims, it also examines the macabre legacy of her mortal remains, a bone of contention (literally you might say!) with the continuous public display of her skeleton in the Thackray Medical Museum until the recent removal of this controversial exhibit.

First published in 1979, The Second Coming is an experiment in the writing of popular history – a contribution to the history of the people who have no history and an exploration of some of the ideas, beliefs and ways of thinking of ordinary men and women in the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. Millenarianism is a conceptual tool with which to explore some aspects of popular thought and culture. It is also seen as an ideology of social change and as a continuing tradition, traced from the end of the seventeenth century to the 1790s, and is shown to be embedded in folk culture. Abundant in rich and lively descriptions of such colourful characters as Richard Brothers, Joanna Southcott, John Wroe, Zion Ward and Sir William Courtenay, as well as studies of the Shakers, early Mormons and Millerites, the result is a window into the world of ordinary people in the Age of Romanticism.

This special edition of 'Extraordinary Life and Character of Mary Bateman, The Yorkshire Witch' was written by Davies and Company, and first published in 1811, making it well over 200 years old. Although the quality of the text rendering in this book is not up to the usual standard that we would publish and is a little hard to read at times, this is a very important antiquarian text. It should be noted that the text features the Old English style of "s" which looks like a tall "f" and can make reading a tad confusing at times! It was written just two years after the execution of Mary Bateman, and as such is an absolute essential addition to the libraries of all who are interested in The Yorkshire Witch story. This super-short, fast read, is a rare old find, and will be a welcome addition to your collection of Occult and Witchcraft book collection and is a must read for all researchers and enthusiasts of the Black Arts, and those with a penchant for old murder cases. IMPORTANT NOTE - Please read BEFORE buying! THIS BOOK IS A REPRINT. IT IS NOT AN ORIGINAL COPY. This book is a reprint edition and is a perfect facsimile of the original book. It is not set in a modern typeface and has not been digitally enhanced. As a result, some characters and images might suffer from slight imperfections, blurring, or minor shadows in the page background. This book appears exactly as it did when it was first printed. At 'Black Books' we do not use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to transcribe books from scanned images or other forms of text - this usually results in everything from strange characters to gibberish. We believe that reading an old book, exactly as it was, is the most satisfying way to read it. DISCLAIMER : Due to the age of this book, some methods, beliefs, or practices may have been deemed unsafe, undesirable, or unacceptable in the interim years. In utilizing the information herein, you do so at your own risk. We republish antiquarian books without judgment, solely for their historical and cultural importance, and for educational purposes. If purchasing a book more than 50 years old, especially for a minor, please use due diligence and vet the text before gifting.