Modern Spiritualism 2 Volume Set
A History and a Criticism
Published on 19. May 2011
Book
718 pages
978-1-108-07259-5 (ISBN)
Description
Frank Podmore (1856-1910) published Modern Spiritualism in two volumes in 1902. It was the first comprehensive history of the Spiritualist movement. Podmore traces the historical development of Spiritualism from its earliest origins in animal magnetism and alchemy, to its apogee in the early nineteenth century and through to its decline from 1870 onwards, which Podmore associated with the growth of professional psychics and fraudsters. Volume 1 covers the key figures of the movement: Paracelsus, Mesmer, Bertrand, Esdaile, and Andrew Jackson Davis. Volume 2, focusing on English and American Spiritualism, sets the movement in its cultural and intellectual context and includes a discussion of the relationship of Spiritualism to science. Podmore was a leading member of the Victorian Society for Psychical Research and his work remains an indispensable source for the modern-day historian of nineteenth-century Spiritualism and occult practices.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 325 mm
Width: 250 mm
Thickness: 70 mm
Weight
1230 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-07259-5 (9781108072595)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
Volume 1: Preface; Introduction; Book I. The Pedigree of Spiritualism: 1. Possession and witchcraft; 2. On poltergeists; 3. The sympathetic system; 4. Mesmer and his disciples; 5. The second French commission; 6. Spiritualism in France before 1848; 7. The German somnambules; 8. The English mesmerists; 9. Community of sensation; 10. Clairvoyance in England; 11. Andrew Jackson Davis and the Univercoelum; Book II. Early American Spiritualism: 1. In Arcadia; 2. Some dwellers in Arcadia; 3. The physical phenomena; 4. Clairvoyance and speaking with tongues; 5. Trance writing and speaking; 6. General survey of the movement. Volume 2: Book III. Spiritualism in England: 1. Table turning and table talking; 2. The incubation period; 3. The American invasion; 4. Private mediumship; 5. Physical mediumship in general; 6. Materialisation; 7. Spirit photographs; 8. Clairvoyance and trance-speaking; 9. Science and superstition; 10. General survey of the movement; Book IV. Problems of Mediumship: 1. Some foreign investigations; 2. Slate-writing; 3. Daniel Dunglas Home; 4. Was there hallucination? 5. The mediumship of Stainton Moses; 6. Automatism; 7. Dream-consciousness; 8. The trance utterances of Mrs. Piper; Summary and conclusion; Index.