Charles Godfrey Leland

Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling (1891) by Charles Godfrey Leland

Charles Godfrey Leland (August 15, 1824 - March 20, 1903) was an American humorist, writer, and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe. This work was published when the author was nearly seventy years of age. It represents twenty years' collecting of spells, customs, ceremonies, superstitions, fetishes, exorcisms, incantations and usages gathered from living sources throughout America, Europe and the East, as well as from the works of earlier writers, all among the Gypsies, as regards to fortune telling, witch doctoring, love philtering and other sorcery. It is illustrated by many anecdotes and instances, taken either from the works as yet very little known to the English reader, or from personal experiences.