Spiritualism: A Popular History from 1847:

From the PREFACE Books about Spiritualism have been so numerous of late that the reader with little leisure probably finds it more difficult than ever to form an opinion. The only new work that can be of real use is a short and clear historical sketch of the entire movement. Those who make history, the living actors, rarely see its significance. The events of to-day take on swollen and gigantic forms, while the events of yesterday and the day before shrink into almost indistinguishable shap...