Edmund Gurney (1847-88) is today best known for his work on psychical research, but from a young age he harboured the ambition to be a composer and performer. Frustrated in this aim, he began writing on the philosophy and psychology of music. This work of 1880 was an attempt to apply a strictly scientific method of enquiry to music, and it is regarded as one of the most important and original treatises from the nineteenth century on musical aesthetics. Gurney discusses the sensations of pleasure and pain in relation to the senses, and goes on to examine how the listener differentiates between 'noises' and 'tones'. He explores whether there is an elemental difference between a 'good' and a 'bad' melody, the ultimate futility of the critic trying to describe music, and the 'moral' conclusion to be drawn from a preference for the music of Rossini over that of Beethoven.

This two-volume work, co-authored by Edmund Gurney (1847 1888), Frederic W. H. Myers (1843 1901) and Frank Podmore (1856 1910), all leading members of the Society for Psychical Research, was first published in 1886. It documents over 700 case studies of ghost-seeing, and aimed to revolutionise thinking about ghosts by proposing a theory that explained ghost-seeing through the idea of telepathy. Volume 1 includes an introduction by Myers and an explanation of the analytical methods used in the study. It then focuses on hypnotism, the telepathic transference of ideas, mental pictures and emotional impressions, dreams, and hallucinations, and contains an impressive essay on the history of witchcraft. This pioneering study is an indispensable source for the history of psychical research. It provides detailed insights into the Victorian fascination with the occult and the supernatural, and is still the most extensive collection of ghost-seeing accounts available.

This two-volume work, co-authored by Edmund Gurney (1847 1888), Frederic W. H. Myers (1843 1901) and Frank Podmore (1856 1910), all leading members of the Society for Psychical Research, was first published in 1886. This collection, containing over 700 case studies of sensory phantasms and hypnotic experiments, was one of the first attempts to deal scientifically with the hypothesis of psychic thought-transference and to catalogue and provide a body of evidence in its support. Volume 2 presents data and analyses of auditory, visual, and tactile hallucinations, and those of a reciprocal or collective nature. It contains addenda and a conclusion for the two volumes. This pioneering study is an indispensable source for the history of psychical research and nineteenth-century attitudes to the idea of telepathy. It provides detailed insights into the Victorian fascination with the occult and the supernatural.

Additional Author Is Frank Podmore. Foreword By Gardner Murphy. Introduction By F. W. H. Myers. Abridged.

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