I’m doing some research on the Gloucester Spectre Leaguers and have wasted SO MUCH TIME because just about every website says Cotton Mather wrote about them in Magnalia Christi Americana (1702) whereas his account is actually in the much more obscure Decennium Luctuosum (1699).
I suspect this is down to Samuel Adams Drake who put a lengthy paraphrase of Mather’s report with an erroneous reference to Magnalia Christi in his New England Legends and Folk Lore (1884). His 19th century English is much easier to read than Mather’s 17th century version, which could be responsible for people going with his account rather than the original, and perpetuating his mistake.
Always check the original sources, people!