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  1. Home
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  3. The History of Spiritualism
  • Cited by 2
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
October 2011
Print publication year:
2011
First published in:
1926
Online ISBN:
9781139059787
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139059787
Subjects:
History of Ideas, History, General, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
Series:
Cambridge Library Collection - Spiritualism and Esoteric Knowledge
Information

Book description

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.

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