Hoosier Authors Book Club – “The Witchery of Archery” by Maurice Thompson
The last book club selection for the year will be discussed on Thursday, October 23. It is The Witchery of Archery by Maurice Thompson. Written in 1878, this was the first book in English about hunting with bow and arrow ever published. Thompson was from Crawfordsville and one of Lew Wallace’s closest friends. It was the first important book about archery written in English since Toxophilus, which was written in 1545. It was said that Witchery “…has as much effect on archery as Uncle Tom’s Cabin had on the Civil War and it made Crawfordsville the worldwide center for archery for decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When Thompson wrote The Witchery of Archery, he filled it with various stories, many of which were humorous. However, it also gave practical advice on the sport, such as the manufacturing of archery paraphernalia and how to use the equipment while hunting. This is sure to be a different kind of read, written right here in Crawfordsville. A book that added to both our legacy as the Athens of Indiana and to Indiana during the Golden Age of Hoosier Authors.
