Cotton Mather was born in Boston on 12 February 1663, the eldest child of Increase Mather and Maria Cotton Mather, who was the daughter of John Cotton, an elder statesman of the first generation of settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He lived...

Cotton Mather's life was as genetically and environmentally determined as it was for him theologically predestined. The first child of Increase and Maria Cotton Mather, he was born in Boston on 12 February 1663, into a family whose energies and genius...

The Mather library developed through several generations. Richard Mather began the family book collection, part of which descended to Increase, who made it one of seventeenth-century New England's most distinguished libraries. Building on the books...

From The Wonders of the Invisible World (1693) Reprinted in American Literature: A Prentice Hall Anthology, Volume 1 in 1991 Cotton Mather (see biography and primary source entry with Ezekial Cheever) was a prominent minister in Boston, Massachusetts,...

Mather, Cotton(1663–1728) Cotton Mather, scholar, clergyman, and author, was the oldest son of Increase Mather, one of the leading figures in the Puritan theocracy in Massachusetts. The younger Mather was so precocious that he entered Harvard...

March 19, 1663 Boston, Massachusetts February 13, 1728 Boston, Massachusetts Clergyman and scientist Portrait: Cotton Mather....

Born: 1663 Boston, Massachusetts Died: 1728 Boston, Massachusetts Clergyman, scientist, and writer Puritan minister Cotton Mather was instrumental in escalating the witch-hunts in New England during the late 1600s. Along with his father, Increase...

Cotton Mather (February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728). A.B. 1678 (Harvard College), A.M. 1681; honorary doctorate 1710 (University of Glasgow), was a socially and politically influential Puritan minister, prolific author, and pamphleteer. Cotton...

The Madison-based Erica Mather Trio has spent 18 months composing and trying out new music. Now they've completed their first CD, ''Borderlands,'' which was recorded at Audio for the Arts. The CD's nine-song repertoire revolves around the sophisticated compositions of pianist...

Byline: Jared Polis Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem and as his evil alter ego ''Slim Shady,'' is one of the pre-eminent vocal artists of the day. His latest CD, The Eminem Show, has sold more than 3 million copies. His popularity...

Let’s give a warm New York welcome to the 10th anniversary edition of Phillip Lopate’s essential Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (Library of America, $19.95), now in paperback and expanded to include material from the past decade. We’ve seen many changes since 1998....

In the following excerpt, Wendell provides a detailed account of Mather's role in the witchcraft trials and surveys the author's writings on witchcraft.

In the following excerpt, Gay examines Mather's Magnalia Christi Amricana and argues that it has played a significant role in shaping modern views on Puritan New England.

In the essay below, Levin examines the themes of Mather's Bonifacius, also known as Essays to Do Good, and argues that the book is historically relevant to an understanding of American philosophers and reformers of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Levin's essay was first published in 1966.

Essay describes the tone of Cotton Mather regarding his writing about "The Trial of Martha Carrier."