Wikipedia:Peer review/Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches/archive1

Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
This is an article about a nineteenth-century book by American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland about his supposed discovery of a document detailing the beliefs and practices of Pagan witches in Tuscany. It should be at least somewhat interesting, as it involves mystical documents finally arriving after a long search, vanishing informants and, well, strange cults practicing naked rites under full moons. It also became an influence on Neopaganism. I'm hoping to take it to WP:FAC, so please let me know if there's anything that still needs work. It is around 25k, and I'd definitely call it comprehensive, if not exhaustive. Thanks. Jkelly 03:49, 28 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Please see automated peer review suggestions here. Thanks, Andy t 15:05, 28 June 2006 (UTC)


 * The article is well writen, and I agree that it is comprehensive and likely exhaustive in its representation of the literature on the subject. I had a minor query regarding the use of the term "Charge of Aradia"; also, I would have liked to see stronger counter-evidence to Ronald Hutton's conclusion that the book was Leland's invention, however I accept that to provide the required comparative evidence would involve straying into original research (see my comments at the article's discussion page). I come from the unfortunate position of having done a certain amount of research into this area, and having my own gripes with Hutton's views that I would like to express, but can't in Wikipedia. My gripes aside, I believe that the "Claims questioned" section of the article has achieved as close to good balance as the current literature can support. The only other suggestion I can make is that perhaps some description of the geographical areas in which Leland was working would be of interest — there is already a very well-chosen image showing Florence at the time of writing, which could be more meaningful in light of such details. Hutton criticised Leland for having romanticised the geography in which he was collecting his material, and I believe one of the essays in the critical edition of Aradia provides further details about his area of collection. Leland's own description is rather lovely. Basically, if a detail or two along these lines could somehow be worked into the article it would provide extra atmosphere, as well as another interesting point of controversy! On the whole I'm very impressed. Well done! Fuzzypeg ☻ 23:16, 29 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I added some more detail to the image caption. Our articles at History of Florence and History of Tuscany need a lot of work! Jkelly 19:47, 2 July 2006 (UTC)


 * A beautiful article. Well done! I'm just concerned about the red links in the notes for the authors' names; I know the template creates the links automatically, but I was wondering are those authors notable enough to have their own articles? If they're not then the template could be subst'd to remove the links. Anyway, excellent and informative article. Extraordinary Machine 14:59, 2 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I delinked the ones least likely to get articles. Jkelly 19:47, 2 July 2006 (UTC)