Professor Owen Davies
PhD
Job title: Professor of Social History; Associate Head of School (Research)
Email Address: O.Davies@herts.ac.uk
Memberships and Appointments:
Much of my work has concerned the continued widespread belief in witchcraft and magic in the modern period, and why witchcraft accusations eventually declined in England during the early twentieth century. This has also led to work on popular medicine and folklore, comparative studies regarding France and Scotland, and interdisciplinary research applying anthropological and biomedical knowledge to historical topics. I also have research interests in landscape history, which I am currently pursuing as part of Professor Matthew Cragoe's AHRC-funded 'Changing landscapes, changing environments' project.
My most recent book is Grimoires: A History of Magic Books, which traces the development of grimoires and the conjurations and spells they contained from ancient Egypt to modern America, and from Europe to the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. It is published by Oxford University Press. I have recently completed editing a 5-volume document collection on the history of ghosts in England and the USA (Pickering & Chatto). My next major book project concerns the history of witchcraft in America from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, which will also be published by Oxford University Press.
List of publications