An ancient book describing the trial of two of women accused of witchcraft - which provided a legal precedent at the infamous Salem Witch Trials in America - is set to go under the hammer.

A Tryal of Witches at the Assizes Held at Bury St. Edmunds for the County of Suffolk was printed in London in 1682.

It's a rare eyewitness account of a case heard by judge Sir Matthew Hale 18 years previously in March 1664. It was written by "a person then attending the court".

It will be offered up for sale on November 29 at Chiswick Auctions in London.

The two accused widows - both from Lowestoft - were found guilty and condemned to be hanged.

Sir Matthew died in 1682 - the same year the book was published.

The book - which has an estimated guide price of £3,000 to £4,000 - describes the trial of Rose Cullender and Amy Duny (or Denny) after their neighbours accused them of witchcraft.

Rose came from a property-owning family, while Amy was a labourer's widow.

Their trial took place at Bury St Edmunds and they were found guilty of 13 charges of using malevolent witchcraft and sentenced to be hanged.

They were accused of bewitching several young children - from a baby just a few months old to an 18-year-old - and faced 13 charges.

Their alleged "victims" were the two daughters and aunt of a local merchant called Samuel Pacy.

They were tried at the assizes under the 1603 Witchcraft Act, found guilty of all 13 charges of using malevolent witchcraft and sentenced to be hanged.

The evidence centred on visions and dreams - and the hearsay evidence of children. 

The judge - who believed wholeheartedly in witchcraft - asked the Bury St Edmunds jury to consider “first, whether or no these children were bewitched, [and] secondly, whether the prisoners at bar were guilty of it”.

The question of whether witchcraft was real was not up for discussion, since its existence was recognised in the Bible and by Parliament, he said.

His opinions were studied by judges of New England during the infamous witch trials held in colonial Massachusetts between early 1692 and mid-1693.

It led to more than 200 people from Salem standing accused of practising witchcraft and 20 executions.

In Britain and across East Anglia, witch hunts reached their height during the Puritan era - when the trial took place. Between the 15th and early 18th century around 500 are believed to have been executed for witchcraft - most of them women.