Spiritualism , Mesmerism, Psychical Reseach

Under the Southern Cross – Horace Leaf [Intro by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Spiritualism Down under etc] – First Edition 1923

Scarce book and impossible to find with its dust jacket (albeit chipped). A super copy.

Horace Leaf (1886-1971) was a serious spiritualist, clairvoyant with and interest in psychometry and healing. He was a friend and associate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – who writes the introduction. The pair worked together to find the missing Agatha Christie and made contact with Lenin when he was on the other side.

Conan Doyle had done his own tour of the Antipodes and had wanted Leaf with him – Leaf couldn’t make it. Afterwards, Conan Doyle persisted with Leaf to make a trip down under … Leaf didn’t think he had the financial wherewithal … Conan Doyle responded by saying he had left five hundred pounds in Australia for Leaf.

The book is a very interesting read. Published by Cecil Palmer, London in 1923. Thick octavo, 263 pages, illustrated from photographs taken on tour. All in excellent condition – accept that there are three strange pin style holes right through the rear board and the last group of pages – strange and almost unnoticeable – could be some strange experiment has taken place?

Leaf arrives in Western Australia and makes himself busy and then off to the Gold Fields; on to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane before a boat to New Zealand, north and south islands. Returning to Sydney he makes a trip to Tasmania [the only addition to the Conan Doyle route].

This all sounds like a regular travel trip but not so. Along the way we have interesting psychic goings on with some startling occurrences particularly the Melbourne readings. Interesting positive references to aboriginal character. Near the end we have a journey up Mt Wellington Hobart to a tea house to have the leaves read by a psychic – who passes the test – this must have been at the Springs Hotel which burned down in the 1967 bush fires.

Leaf wrote Conan Doyle’s obituary published in “Ghost Stories” in October 1930. Unfortunately, Leaf may indirectly have exacerbated Conan Doyle’s health leading to his move to the “other side”.

Psychic tour of Australia by Conan Doyle Associate.

$120.00

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Facts in Mesmerism – With Reasons for a dispassionate inquiry into it by Rev Chauncy Hare Townshend – Very Scarce First Edition 1840

An extremely rare First edition, published by Longman, London 1840

An extensive study and defence of mesmerism by Chancy Hare Townshend (1798-1868) and English priest, poet, collector of natural history and a man with a passionate interest in mesmerism. He was a good friend of Charles Dickens who dedicated “Great Expectations” to him [Townshend had the manuscript of Great Expectations at the time of his death].

Mesmerism (named after Franz Mesmer) a hypnosis based on the theory of animal magnetism. Due to its spiritual associations and uncanny effects it was controversial in the early 19th century. Towsnhend describes in detail the mental states mesmerism induces, which he defines as similar to a state of sleepwalking. Fascinating content including the accounts of experiments carried out by the author in which he hypnotised his subjects into feeling his own sensations and possessing knowledge that they could not have known.

Townshend has quite a Wikipedia write up and the hilarious meeting with poet John Clare is worth a read

Rare and valuable first edition of an early work on Mesmerism

$90.00

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The Unknown Guest [and Other Essays] – Maurice Maeterlinck

The Unknown Guest by Nobel Prize winning author, playwright and poet Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck. Published by Methuen, London in 1925 a fourth printing. Bound in original green cloth, 340 pages some flecking to soft paper page edges but generally a pretty good copy of a hard to get book.

An unusual group of essays including the title offering we have … Phantasms of the Living and the Dead; Psychometry; the Knowledge of the Future and The Elberfield Horses.

An intellectual potpourri if there ever was one.

$40.00

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The Constitution of Man – George Combe – 1871

An 1871 edition of this important book published by MacLachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh. Over 350 page in very good condition still tight in its original cloth binding with rich dark green endpapers.

George Combe (1788-1858) was an ardent phrenologist and writer. Born in Edinburgh he founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820. He led the field there for over twenty years and this was his great work.

Originally a lawyer with a successful practice. In 1816 Johann Spurzheim came to Edinburgh and Combe was invited to a private dissection of the human brain which greatly impressed him. This spurred him on to make his own investigations and he was satisfied that the fundamental principles of phrenology were sound, namely “that the brain is the organ of the mind; that the brain is an aggregate of several parts, each subserving a distinct mental faculty; and that the size of the cerebral organ is, caeteris paribus, and index of power or energy of function”.

Many of the principles set out in The Constitution of Man would challenge modern morality.

Combe – Distinguished in his field

$50.00

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Hafed – Prince of Persia – Duguid and Nisbet

A sixth edition published in London by Foulsham and Glasgow by Nisbet in 1923. Original green cloth binding, a substantial book of 579 pages, a clean copy with a religious picture pasted in at the rear and with manuscript reference notes to the text inside back cover. A very good copy.

The lengthy title page explains … His Experiences in Earth-Life and Spirit-Life being Spirit Communications received through Mr David Duguid, the Glasgow Trance Painting Medium, with an Appendix, containing Communications from Spirit Artists, Ruisadal and Steen. Illustrated by fac-similes of various Drawings and Writings the Direct Work of the Spirits

Originally published in 1876, taken down in notes by the publisher Hay Nisbet, and representing Duguid’s famous guide “Hafed”. Dictated in 46 sittings between 1870 and 1871. The climax of his story was reached when he revealed that he conducted the expedition of the Three Wise Men to Judea to the cradle of Jesus. He was summoned by his guardian spirit to go on the journey with two brother magi and take rich gifts to the babe. He described the youthful years of Jesus that are not chronicled in the Gospels. According to his story, he travelled with Jesus in Persia, India, and many other countries and marvelled at the miracles the young child performed. After the martyrdom of Jesus he became a Christian himself, met Paul in Athens, preached the gospel in Venice and Alexandria, and finally perished at age 100 in the arena at Rome.

Hafed Travelled with Jesus and told Duguid

$40.00

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The Problems of Psychical Research – Hereward Carrington – 1914

A first edition 1914 Carrington with a number of book of a spiritual kind here offers “Experiments and Theories in the Realm of the Supernormal”.

A superb volume with intense detail … Life and its interpretation; hallucination and the physical phenomena of spiritualism; the problems of telepathy; Psychic experiences … Spirits or teleological automatisms, spontaneous physical phenomena, a modern poltergeist. Also witchcraft and scientific truths in fairy stories.

Very good condition except for pages 196/7 which have suffered from having something inserted which when removed has left remnant and worn pages … all text readable … and a hard to find relevant book. Priced accordingly.

Comprehensive and provoking

$50.00

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Under the Southern Cross – Horace Leaf [Intro by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Spiritualism Down under etc] – First Edition 1923

Facts in Mesmerism – With Reasons for a dispassionate inquiry into it by Rev Chauncy Hare Townshend – Very Scarce First Edition 1840

The Unknown Guest [and Other Essays] – Maurice Maeterlinck

The Constitution of Man – George Combe – 1871

Hafed – Prince of Persia – Duguid and Nisbet

The Problems of Psychical Research – Hereward Carrington – 1914

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