Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Library Collection - Spiritualism and Esoteric Knowledge

Throughout his life, Frank Podmore (1856-1910) harboured a fascination for the supernatural. Published during a period of prolific writing and introspection, this 1908 work was the result of years of research, observation and analysis. It remains one of the most authoritative works on the phenomenon of spiritualism.

First published in 1869, this book describes the spiritualist activity of Scottish-born Daniel Dunglas Home (1833-86), who emerged as a medium in the United States in the wake of the Fox sisters' alleged 'spirit rappings' in the mid-nineteenth century. Written by the Irish journalist and politician Windham Thomas Wyndham-Quin, Lord Adare (1841-1926), who befriended Home in 1867, the book records Adare's observations of seventy-eight spiritualist sittings over two years, and reports verbatim the conversations between Home and the spirits with whom he was allegedly in contact. Adare also describes Home's supernatural interactions away from the formal setting of a seance. The accounts were originally written as private reports to Adare's father, the landowner and archeologist Edwin Wyndham-Quin, third Earl of Dunraven. Dunraven was deeply interested in spiritualist activity and wrote the introduction to this work, which also includes a classification of all spiritualist phenomena.

Written by the French Benedictine Antoine Augustin Calmet (1672-1757), and first published in 1746, this two-volume work examines a wide selection of supernatural tales and beliefs from across Europe, seeking to understand the truth behind such tales. The work was translated into English in 1850 by Henry Christmas (1811-68).

First published in 1902, this work by the mystic and historian Arthur Waite (1857-1942) establishes Kabbalah's significant influence on nineteenth-century occultism. The book chronicles the history of Kabbalist practice from its ancient Hebrew origins to its influence on other branches of the occult, including Rosicrucianism, freemasonry, hermeticism and tarot.

Eliphas Levi (1810-75) was instrumental in the revival of Western occultism in the nineteenth century. This posthumous publication (1896), translated from an unpublished manuscript, outlines the meanings of the twenty-two tarot trumps and includes editorial notes on their iconography. It concludes with Kabbalistic prayers and occult and religious maxims.

Published in 1849, this two-volume set examines how popular mythology kept alive beliefs about the occult, alchemy and the paranormal. Examining witchcraft, astrology, mesmerism, alchemy and much more, Henry Christmas shows how some of these beliefs were so entrenched that they were held almost as facts, even influencing rational thought.

Sir Hermann Gollancz (1852-1930) was Professor of Hebrew at University College London and became the first English rabbi to receive a knighthood. This illustrated edition and translation of three Syriac manuscripts containing Eastern Christian charms against illness or injury was first published in 1912.

Harry Houdini (1874-1926), real name Erik Weisz, was one of the most famous magicians and escapologists of all time. In this book, published in 1924, he described the mediums and psychics whom he revealed as fraudulent, exposing the tricks by which they had convinced many notable scientists and academics.

This two-volume history was published in 1926 by the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), who, like many of his contemporaries, was fascinated by spiritualism and the possibility of communication with the dead. Volume 1 focuses on the origins of the movement in the mid-nineteenth century.

Lionel Weatherly (1852-1940) was an eminent British psychiatrist. In this work, first published in 1891, he examines a variety of supernatural phenomena, seeking scientific explanations for apparent apparitions and psychic abilities. The book also contains an entertaining chapter explaining magical illusions, written by famous stage magician J. N. Maskelyne.

The spiritualist and bookseller Frederick Leigh Gardner (1857-1930) privately published this three-volume catalogue (reissued here in a single volume) between 1903 and 1912. It contains detailed lists of books on Rosicrucianism, astrology and English freemasonry, with historical introductions by William Wynn Westcott (1848-1925), co-founder of the Golden Dawn.

Walter Scott (1779-1858), President and Theological Tutor at Airedale College in Bradford, delivered a series of lectures on the occult at the Congregational Library in 1841. This volume is a collection of those lectures which use scriptural and testimonial evidence to evaluate the existence of evil spirits and 'fallen angels'.

Joseph Ennemoser (1787-1854) was an Tyrolean doctor, who was a forerunner of Freud in his belief in the connection between the mind and physical health: his interest in psychology led to investigations into the paranormal. This English translation of his 1844 work was published in 1854.

A pioneer in the field of astrophysics, Johann Zöllner (1834-1882) was a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Leipzig and an associate of the Royal Astronomical Society. Zöllner was best known for his work on astronomical photometry and spectrum analysis, on which he published widely. He invented the astronomical photometer used for measuring stellar magnitudes. He was also interested in optical illusions: the 'Zöllner illusion' consists of straight parallel lines which appear to be unparallel. This book, published in German in 1878-1879 and translated into English by Charles C. Massey in London in 1880, exemplifies the shift in Zöllner's interests in later life: he became involved in the public debate surrounding the scientific veracity of spiritualism. Here Zöllner describes his observations of experiments conducted by the medium Henry Slade in his own home.

Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a co-founder of the theosophy movement in the United States, which was later extended to Europe and India. In The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888, Blavatsky aims to explain the spiritual origins of the world.

Eneas Sweetland (E. S.) Dallas (1828-1879) was a journalist whose love of poetry led to his writing the two-volume The Gay Science, published in 1866. The title comes from an expression used by Provencal troubadours to describe composing poetry. Volume 1 looks at the historical context of artistic criticism.

Modern Spiritualism (1902) was the first comprehensive history of Spiritualism. It traces the movement's historical development from its origins in animal magnetism to its decline in the late 1870s. Volume 1 covers the key figures of Paracelsus, Mesmer, Bertrand, and Esdaile. It is an indispensable source on nineteenth-century Spiritualism.

Bucke's account (1901) of his research and contemplation on the trend towards heightened intellectual awareness in man, through evolution, explaining his theory of the three stages of conscious development that culminate in flashes of understanding of the life and order of the cosmos, illustrated by his own and others' experiences.

Anna Kingsford (1846-1888) was a theosophist who campaigned passionately for women's rights and vegetarianism, and against vivisection. This book, first published anonymously in 1882, is a collection of lectures on theosophical topics including spirits, reincarnation, religion and myth whose author hoped to promote truth, liberty and reason.

Written by William Howitt and published in 1863, this two-volume history traces common characteristics in engagement with the supernatural. Volume 1 begins with an apology for faith in the nineteenth century and continues with spiritualist histories of Europe, the Bible and apocrypha, the ancient world, the East, and Scandinavia.

Crowe's collection of ghostly and psychic tales was a nineteenth-century best-seller. Volume 1 includes stories on presentiments, traces, wraiths, doppelgangers, apparitions and the after-life. It is a wonderful example of early Victorian spiritualist writing and marks the apogee of the nineteenth century's fascination with the supernatural.

The nineteenth-century medium D. D. Home here describes the extraordinary psychic events in his life, from his first vision at the age of thirteen to the seances he held for the rich and famous. The first of two autobiographical works, this 1863 publication describes the mysterious phenomena he experienced.

Samuel Liddell Mathers' 1889 edition of this work introduces readers to a fascinating work of Renaissance occultism. Edited and translated from manuscripts at the British Museum, the text purports to disclose the secrets of history's wisest king, including how to summon God's power to create spells.

Albert Louis Caillet (1869-1922) devoted himself to the study of psychic sciences after a career in civil engineering. In this essential reference work on the literature of the occult, published in three volumes in 1912, he covers subjects ranging from alchemy to secret societies.

English historian and antiquary Thomas Wright (1810-70) published prolifically on subjects ranging from Old English texts to Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. This two-volume 1851 publication is testimony to his interest in folklore, sorcery and legend. Volume 1 gives instances of alleged witchcraft from sixteenth-century Europe.

First published in 1877, this two-volume spiritualist text describes the philosophical and occultist aims of the Theosophical Society, which Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-91) had recently helped to found. Drawing on her extensive travels, she claims to address the shortcomings of both scientific and theological inquiry.

This two-volume work from 1879 is a comprehensive study of demon mythology by freethinker and writer Moncure Daniel Conway (1832-1907). In Volume 1, Conway classifies types of demon, and argues that the various types are personifications of the main obstacles to 'primitive man,' such as hunger and disease.

Spiritualism, first published in 1853, caused an instant controversy as it detailed the conversion of New York judge John W. Edmonds and physician George T. Dexter to spiritualist practices, with Dexter even becoming a medium. Volume 1 includes letters from two spirits - 'Sweedenborg' and 'Bacon' - who communicated through Dexter.

This 1886 book was a pioneering attempt to explain ghost-seeing through the idea of telepathy, by analysis of over 700 case studies. Volume 2 presents data for auditory, visual, reciprocal, and collective hallucinations. It is a key source for the history of Victorian psychical research.

Providing a thorough examination of Agrippa's life and works, Prost's biography follows its subject through his travels and teaching across Western Europe in the early sixteenth century. In addition to its discussion of Agrippa, Volume 1 provides an important history and discussion of the occult arts and sciences.