Eduard von Hartmann (1842 1906) had expected to follow his father's military career, but an injury forced him to reassess his ambitions. Torn between music and philosophy, he settled on the latter and in 1869 published his first book, The Philosophy of the Unconscious, which proved a great success. Published in 1885 as the period saw an enormous rise in the popularity of spiritualism, this work attempts to give psychological explanations for all occult phenomena, including subjective delusions as well as 'objective' physical manifestations, without resorting to hypotheses of ghosts, demons or trickery. C. C. Massey, a leading theosophist and translator of the work, wrote, 'Now for the first time, a man of commanding intellectual position has dealt fairly by us as an opponent.' This work will appeal to anyone with an interest in the growth of spiritualism and the philosophical and metaphysical debates of the nineteenth century.

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.

Published in 1874, this collection of reports by the chemist and scientific journalist Sir William Crookes (1832-1919) describes his controversial research into psychic forces. In 1870, Crookes decided that science had a duty to study preternatural phenomena associated with spiritualism, and he spent the next four years carrying out experiments which tested famous mediums including D. D. Home, Kate Fox and Florence Cook. This fascinating work describes Crookes' witnessing of the movement of bodies at a distance, rappings, changes in the weights of bodies, levitation of individuals and automatic writing. Although he was strongly criticised by his contemporaries, Crookes would not be deterred from his psychical research, demonstrating that he thought all natural phenomena worthy of scientific investigation. A great experimentalist, Crookes refused to be bound by tradition and convention, and his story reveals one of the important episodes in the history of the spiritualist movement.

Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin (1805-71) is often called the father of modern conjuring. His name was later adopted by magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, whose highly sceptical expose of Victorian spiritualism is also published in this series. The best-known magician of his time, Robert-Houdin toured France, England and Germany, performed for Queen Victoria, and was sent to French Algeria by Napoleon III to demonstrate the perceived superiority of French magic to the local shamans. This book, originally published in 1868, is devoted primarily to coin and card tricks, but Robert-Houdin also describes many other magical tricks and includes a history of conjuring. In 1877 the book appeared in this English translation by Louis Hoffmann (1839-1919). Hoffmann (real name Angelo John Lewis, a barrister) had published his own guide to magic in 1876, and both books caused controversy for revealing the secrets of stage magicians in such unprecedented detail.

In this 1917 publication English physicist Sir William Fletcher Barrett (1844 1925) purports to rescue psychical research from the scorn of his colleagues and provide indisputable evidence for the existence of psychic phenomena. A successful scientist (he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society and was honoured with a knighthood), Barrett was better known for his psychical work and his attempts to reconcile it with his scientific pursuits. Certain that the human spirit could linger after bodily death, in this book Barrett examines a wide range of spiritualist practices including levitation, spirit photography, mediumship, automatic writing, the ouija board, clairvoyance, and telepathy, carefully considering the evidence for each phenomenon in the hope that they will in time be recognised as scientifically established facts. This book is a much-revised edition of Barrett's 1908 publication On the Threshold of a New World of Thought, republished to include more 'trustworthy' evidence.

John W. Edmonds (1799-1874), a prominent New York judge, and George T. Dexter, a New York physician, met though their shared interest in the spirit world. They were both dabbling in the spiritualist movement - first with scepticism - and decided to join forces in their investigations of such phenomena as 'spirit-rappings'. Dexter eventually found himself 'fully developed as a writing medium', with his pen controlled by unseen forces. Their conclusions, published in 1853 in Spiritualism, which went into numerous editions and was followed in 1855 by a second volume, caused much controversy. Drawing from their observations, the work gives examples of the authors' purported interaction with the spirit world and their journey from doubt to belief. Volume 1 includes detailed introductions by both authors explaining their experience with spiritualism, which are followed by the letters from two spirits - nicknamed 'Sweedenborg' and 'Bacon' - who communicated their thoughts through Dexter.

John W. Edmonds (1799-1874), a prominent New York judge, and George T. Dexter, a New York physician, met though their shared interest in the spirit world. They were both dabbling in the spiritualist movement - first with scepticism - and decided to join forces in their investigations of such phenomena as 'spirit-rappings'. Dexter eventually found himself 'fully developed as a writing medium', with his pen controlled by unseen forces. Their conclusions, published in 1853 in Spiritualism, which went into numerous editions and was followed in 1855 by a second volume, caused much controversy. Drawing from their observations, the work gives examples of the authors' purported interaction with the spirit world and their journey from doubt to belief. Volume 2 sees Dexter develop as a 'speaking medium' and includes transcriptions taken by Edmonds of what the spirits relayed through his co-author during the meetings of their circle of spiritualists.

Lionel Weatherly (1852 1940) was a respected psychiatrist who advocated a more modern and sympathetic approach to mental illness than many of his contemporaries. In this work, first published in 1891, he discusses a variety of supernatural phenomena, seeking scientific and rational explanations for ghostly apparitions and paranormal experiences. Weatherly scrutinises stories of mirages, prophetic dreams and the experiences of historical figures like Joan of Arc. Also included is a chapter by famous illusionist and inventor J. N. Maskelyne. Maskelyne famously exposed the fraud of a number of spiritualists, and created illusions which are still performed today. His witty and colourful chapter examines the truth behind a number of famous Eastern magical illusions, sharing insights on trade secrets. Maskelyne also delves into mediumistic fraud, questioning the credibility of figures like D. D. Home and Madame Blavatsky, in an entertaining and carefully argued investigation of phenomena which have mystified for centuries.

A founding member of the Fabian Society and a prominent member of the Society for Psychical Research, Frank Podmore (1856 1910) occupied a unique position in British political and scientific society. From his undergraduate days at Oxford until his untimely death in 1910, he harboured a fascination for the supernatural, hallucinations and mesmerism. Published in the final years of his life, during a period of prolific writing and introspection, this 1908 work was the result of exhaustive personal research and first-hand observation. Although fascinated by his chosen subject, Podmore never abandoned his scientific stance and demonstrates a level of scepticism rarely found among the more committed Victorian spiritualists. The result is a scholarly but entertaining series of case studies, which remains one of the most authoritative works on the phenomenon of spiritualism.

The Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is best known for his creation of the character Sherlock Holmes. Trained as a medical doctor, Doyle - like many Victorian intellectuals - became fascinated by spiritualism and its promise of communication with the afterlife. Doyle was a firm believer in the movement, claiming as evidence 'sign[s] of a purposeful and organized invasion' from the spirit world. In 1926, towards the end of his life, he published this influential two-volume history. Volume 1 covers the background and origins of spiritualism, beginning with Swedenborg before turning to the 'supernatural' events in upstate New York in 1848 that are generally regarded as the beginning of modern spiritualism. It then focuses on key individuals including D. D. Home, and on scientific investigations of spiritualist phenomena. The History provides valuable insights into Victorian and early twentieth-century culture and the controversies generated by spiritualism at that time.

The Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is best known for his creation of the character Sherlock Holmes. Trained as a medical doctor, Doyle - like many Victorian intellectuals - became fascinated by spiritualism and its promise of communication with the afterlife. Doyle was a firm believer in the movement, claiming as evidence 'sign[s] of a purposeful and organized invasion' from the spirit world. In 1926, towards the end of his life, he published this influential two-volume history. Volume 2 focuses on celebrated mediums from 1870 to World War I and explores topics such as 'ectoplasm', 'spirit photography' and 'voice mediumship'. Doyle also discusses spiritualism as practised in Europe and the religious aspects of the movement. The History provides valuable insights into Victorian and early twentieth-century culture and the enthusiasm and controversies generated by spiritualism at that time.

For most of his life a clerk in the post office, Frank Podmore (1856 1910) was a prolific author on psychical research. As an undergraduate Podmore became interested in spiritualism, and he joined the British National Association of Spiritualists. Eventually disillusioned by that society, Podmore co-founded several organisations: the Progressive Association (in 1882); the Fellowship of the New Life (1883); and, spurred by his desire to see political change, the Fabian Society (1884). Podmore's membership in the Society for Psychical Research influenced his activities and interests, and he spent the next twenty years investigating and writing on psychical phenomena. Podmore's two-volume Modern Spiritualism (also reissued in this series) is a source for this 1909 work, which 'constituted the most scholarly history of mesmerism and its offshoots to that date', according to one reviewer. This work will interest historians of science and medicine, and scholars of Victorian religious movements.

Written by folklorist Andrew Lang (1844 1912), this 1894 publication examines the ambivalent relationship the living have attempted to forge with the dead throughout history. Nicknamed 'the Wizard of St Andrews', this prolific polymath also worked as an anthropologist, classicist, historian, poet, mythologist, essayist and journalist, producing over a hundred publications in his lifetime. Largely ignored by scholarship, this book suggests expanding the study of folklore to include contemporary narratives of supernatural events. Taking its title from the legends of the notorious Cock Lane ghost, the work considers the survival of ancient beliefs such as hauntings, clairvoyance, and other phenomena believed to transcend the laws of nature, and how such beliefs have persisted through great social upheaval and change. It includes chapters on savage and ancient spiritualism, comparative psychical research, haunted houses, second sight, crystal gazing, and Presbyterian ghost hunters, among others.

First published in 1886, this comprehensive analysis of nineteenth-century spiritual experiments questions our long tradition of encounters with the supernatural, and why it appeared to have declined in influence in the writer's era. Maudsley (1835 1918), a medical psychologist and pioneer psychiatrist, sets out to bring such alleged spiritual phenomena under scientific investigation. Emphasising the natural defects and errors of human observation and reasoning, as well as the prolific activity of the imagination, this inquiry into the causes of belief in the supernatural suggests that much of it can be explained though hallucination, mania, and delusion. The book is divided into three parts: the first section concentrates on the causes of fallacies in the sound mind, while the second considers unsound mental action. The focus of part three is theopneusticism, or the attainment of supernatural knowledge by divine inspiration. This second edition appeared in 1887.

This book by the Russian novelist Vsevolod Sergeyevich Solovyov (1849 1903), translated and abridged by Walter Leaf (1852 1927) and published in 1895, reflects on the life of Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831 1891), co-founder of the theosophy movement in the United States. Originally published over eight months in literary magazine Russy Vyestnik ('Russian Messenger'), the book considers the controversy that engulfed Blavatsky in her final years over displays of her 'phenomena'. Solovyov was living in Paris in 1884 and researching spiritualist literature when he met Blavatsky (whose work was known in Russia), but he became disillusioned with both her and her movement. Leaf, a classical scholar and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, undertook the translation for the Council of the Society for Psychical Research, which had investigated Blavatsky's work. This account now provides a window on to the life of one of Europe's most controversial nineteenth-century spiritual leaders.

Ukrainian-born Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a powerful and controversial member of the spiritualist world and for a time famous for her powers as a medium. She was a co-founder of the theosophy movement in the United States, which she later extended to Europe and India, drawing from her extensive global travels and her familiarity with a broad range of belief systems, from Asian religions to New Orleans voodoo, as well as secret societies such as the Freemasons. Drawing from Hinduism and Buddhism, theosophy aimed to understand the mystic powers of the universe and promote the study of other religions. In The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888, Blavatsky aims to explain the spiritual origins of the world. Volume 1 looks at the world's 'cosmic evolution', the mystical symbolism that developed throughout this process, and scientific criticism.

Ukrainian-born Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a powerful and controversial member of the spiritualist world and for a time famous for her powers as a medium. She was a co-founder of the theosophy movement in the United States, which she later extended to Europe and India, drawing from her extensive global travels and her familiarity with a broad range of belief systems, from Asian religions to New Orleans voodoo, as well as secret societies such as the Freemasons. Drawing from Hinduism and Buddhism, theosophy aimed to understand the mystic powers of the universe and promote the study of other religions. In The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888, Blavatsky aims to explain the spiritual origins of the world. Volume 2 looks at the creation of humans and animals, and considers the lost world of Atlantis.

Ukrainian-born Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a powerful and controversial member of the spiritualist world and for a time famous for her powers as a medium. She was a co-founder of the theosophy movement in the United States, which she later extended to Europe and India, drawing from her extensive global travels and her familiarity with a broad range of belief systems, from Asian religions to New Orleans voodoo, as well as secret societies such as the Freemasons. Drawing from Hinduism and Buddhism, theosophy aimed to understand the mystic powers of the universe and promote the study of other religions. The first two volumes of The Secret Doctrine were published in 1888, but this third volume was published in 1897 by spiritualist Annie Besant from Blavatsky's notes. It looks at some ancient spiritual teachings and mysteries, and the development of the practice of magic.

Frederic William Henry Myers (1843 1901) was a classical scholar who in mid-career turned to the investigation of psychic phenomena. After studying, and later teaching, Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge he resigned his lectureship in 1869, became an inspector of schools, and campaigned for women's higher education. With the encouragement of former colleagues he began a scientific investigation of spiritualism and related phenomena, and in 1882 he helped to found the Society for Psychical Research. This volume, first published in 1893, is a collection of essays that Myers had previously published in journals. Their topics include Charles Darwin's religious beliefs, the capacity of contemporary scientific methods to investigate the existence of the soul after death, and an unusual interpretation of Alfred Tennyson's poetry. These fascinating essays show how Myers engaged with the scientific developments and intellectual currents of his time as he developed his theory of the 'subliminal self'.

Robert Dale Owen (1801 1877) was born in Scotland and emigrated to the United States in 1825 to help his social reformer father Robert Owen set up an experimental community in New Harmony, Indiana. He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1842, and appointed US minister at Naples in 1853. In addition to his political career, Owen was a follower of spiritualism. In Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World, published in 1860, he draws from his own observations of supernatural phenomena as well as published research in fields such as psychology. Owen's comprehensive study addresses six thematic areas. He starts by comparing attempts to navigate uncharted spiritual waters to Christopher Columbus' voyages of discovery, and then moves on to examine themes such as dreams, disturbances and apparitions.