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Informationen zum Autor William Godwin was an English writer, political philosopher, and author who was born on March 3, 1756, and died April 7, 1836. People think of him as one of the first people to support utilitarianism and the first person in modern times to support anarchism. Godwin is best known for writing two books in a year: An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, which was critical of political structures, and Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, an early mystery novel that criticizes the privileges of the wealthy. Because of the success of both, Godwin was well known in London's radical groups in the 1790s. During his lifetime, he wrote a lot of stories, history books, and books about population. As a conservative response to British radicalism, Godwin was criticized, in part because he married the feminist author Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 and wrote an honest account of her after she died giving birth. Their daughter, who became better known as Mary Shelley, wrote Frankenstein and married the author Percy Bysshe Shelley. Godwin started The Juvenile Library with his second wife, Mary Jane Clairmont. This gave the family the chance to write their own children's books (sometimes under a pen name) and translate and print many other books, some of which are still important today. Klappentext The political philosopher and writer William Godwin (1756-1836), who was also the husband of writer Mary Wollstonecraft and father of Mary Shelley, was known for his philosophical works and novels. In this work, originally published in 1834, Godwin turns to the issue of the supernatural, and to some of the famous - and sometimes unexpected - people associated with it. He begins by defining some magic practices, such as divination, astrology, and necromancy, giving examples of the latter from the Bible. The remainder of the work consists of brief sketches of people and places involved in the occult world, beginning in the Ancient Middle East and Greece, surveying the Christian era in Europe, and ending with the New England witch trials. In a remarkable work of synthesis, he discusses apparently supernatural episodes in the lives of many historical figures, from Socrates and Virgil to Joan of Arc and James I. Zusammenfassung Philosopher and writer William Godwin (1756–1836) examines the issue of the supernatural in this work of 1834. Beginning in the Ancient Middle East and Greece, surveying the Christian era in Europe, and ending with the New England witch trials, Godwin gives sketches of historical figures associated with the supernatural. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface; Introduction; 1. Ambitious nature of man; 2. Examples of necromancy and witchcraft from the Bible; 3. Greece; 4. Rome; 5. Revolution produced in the history of necromancy and witchcraft upon the establishment of Christianity; 6. History of necromancy in the East; 7. Dark Ages of Europe; 8. Communication of Europe and the Saracens; 9. Revival of Letters; 10. Sanguinary proceedings against witchcraft; Conclusion....
