Book with connection to Salem witch trials being auctioned

SALEM, Mass. — A psalm book once owned by a judge in the Salem witch trials is being sold.

The previously unknown seventh edition of "The Bay Psalm Book" that once belonged to Jonathan Corwin could sell for $40,000 when it is auctioned on Thursday by Swann Auction Galleries.

Corwin was a judge during the 1692 trials, when 19 accused witches were hanged and another was crushed to death. Corwin's home, now owned by the city of Salem, is known as the Witch House.

Auction director Rick Stattler tells The Salem News the first edition dates to 1640, but the version up for auction was printed in 1693.

The book has a second connection to the witch trials. It was also once owned by the descendants of John Proctor, hanged as a witch in 1692.