The History of Spiritualism

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108033206
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/02/2011
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Spiritualism and Esoteric Knowledge
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

The life of Arthur Conan Doyle illustrates the excitement and diversity of the Victorian age unlike that of any other single figure of the period. At different points in his life he was a surgeon on a whaling ship; a GP; an apprentice eye-surgeon; an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate (twice); a multi-talented sportsman; one of the inventors of cross-country skiing in Switzerland; a formidable public speaker; a campaigner against miscarriages of justice; a military strategist; a writer in a range of forms; and the head of an extraordinary family. In his autobiography, he wrote: 'I have had a life which, for variety and romance, could, I think, hardly be exceeded.' He was not wrong. But Conan Doyle was also a Victorian with a twist, a man of tensions and contradictions. He was fascinated by travel, exploration, and invention, indeed all things modern and technological; yet at the same time he was also very traditional, voicing support for values such as chivalry, duty, constancy, and honour. By the time of his death in July 1930 he was a celebrity, achieving worldwide fame and notoriety for his creation of the rationalist, scientific super-detective Sherlock Holmes; yet at the same time his later decades were taken up with his advocacy of the new religion of Spiritualism, in which he was a devoted believer.

Date of Birth:

May 22, 1859

Date of Death:

July 7, 1930

Place of Birth:

Edinburgh, Scotland

Place of Death:

Crowborough, Sussex, England

Education:

Edinburgh University, B.M., 1881; M.D., 1885

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. The story of Swedenborg; 2. Edward Irving: the Shakers; 3. The prophet of the new revelation; 4. The Hydesville episode; 5. The career of the Fox sisters; 6. First developments in America; 7. The dawn in England; 8. Continued progress in England; 9. The career of D. D. Home; 10. The Davenport brothers; 11. The researches of Sir William Crookes (1870–4); 12. The Eddy brothers and the Holmeses; 13. Henry Slade and Dr. Monck; 14. Collective investigations of spiritualism.