Voodoos and Obeahs: Phases of West India Witchcraft

New York: Lincoln Mac Veagh/Dial Press Inc, 1933. First Edition, Fourth Printing. Hardcover. Very Good+. First Edition, Fourth Printing. Hardcover. A critical study of voodoo and obeah spiritual beliefs, utilizing primary sources, scholarly investigations, and personal experiences. From the publisher: "The first scientific study of those weird practices which are connected with the mysterious Voodoo that has cast such a blight on the social and religious development of Haiti." Williams examines the history of voodoo and obeah in the Caribbean, specifically Jamaica and Haiti, traces them back to their roots in Africa and discusses the influence imperialism, slavery and racism had on their development. Joseph J. Williams was born in Boston in 1875 as the son of Nicholas and Mary Jane Williams. He was educated at home by his mother, a former Boston school teacher, and later at Boston College High. In 1893 he entered the Society of Jesus at Frederick, Maryland. After two years of scientific and philosophical studies at Woodstock College he was assigned to Jamaica from 1906 to 1907. Williams earned a doctorate in ethnology at Woodstock and was editor of America from 1910 to 1911. The next five years he served as a missionary in Jamaica. The author also spent numerous years studying black culture in Jamaica, an attempt to trace the many Hebrewisms, especially those found in tribes in West Africa, particularly among the Ashanti. Important work authored by a Black scholar on Afro-Caribbean spiritual beliefs. Signed and presented by the author, dated 1933 on ffep. Light scuffing, bumped corners, light shelfwear, mild toning to pages, else tight, bright, and unmarred. Brown cloth boards, blind device. 8vo. xxii, 257pp. Index. Bibliography. Presentation copy. Lacking dj. Laid in Carmelite Saint devotional card.