SPIRITUALISM

['Zadkiel' (Richard James Morrison, ' the most famous astrologer of Victorian times').] Ten-year run of ‘Zadkiel’s Almanac’, 1851 to 1860.

Author: 
'Zadkiel', i.e. Richard James Morrison (1795-1874), 'the most famous astrologer of Victorian times'; Zadkiel’s Almanac, London
Publication details: 
1851 to 1860; London. 1851 and 1852 published by Hall & Co.; 1853 and 1854 by Piper Brothers & Co.; 1855 to 1858 by Piper, Stephenson & Spence; 1859 and 1860 by George Berger.
£450.00

Morrison’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes him as ‘the most famous astrologer of Victorian times’. The present nonce-collection contains ten yearly issues of ‘Zadkiel’s Almanac’, in workmanlike black-cloth binding. Some of the outer leaves heavily discoloured, and the whole somewhat worn, otherwise in fair condition. All in 12mo, and with much the same lay-out of the title-page. Occasional illustrations. Title-pages state print-runs between ‘Twentieth Thousand’ (1851) and ‘Forty-second Thousand’ (1855 and 1856).

[‘W. G. Hooper [William George Hooper], Ph. D. / World Traveller, Lecturer and Author’.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Dear Fellow Pilgrim’, describing his plan of a course of lessons on the relations of soul and body.

Author: 
‘W. G. Hooper [William George Hooper], Ph. D. / World Traveller, Lecturer and Author’, Hampshire author of works on spiritualism, the universe, ether and angels
Publication details: 
On his letterhead (‘‘W. G. Hooper, Ph. D. / World Traveller, Lecturer and Author’), Cranemoor, Highcliffe-on-sea, Hants, England.
£120.00

Hooper’s various titles, published between 1903 and 1941, are remarkably well represented on JISC, with holdings from the Warburg Institute to the University of Strathclyde. A precious artefact from a spiritual leader. 1p, 4to. On brittle and lightly-creased paper, aged and discoloured, with closed tears and slight loss at one corner and repair with archival tape. The handwriting is hurried and hard to decipher.

[Herbert Thurston, SJ, Roman Catholic liturgical scholar and member of the Society for Psychical Research.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding Samuel Butler and the ‘Oxford theory’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Author: 
Herbert Thurston [Herbert Henry Charles Thurston] (1856–1939), Jesuit priest, Roman Catholic liturgical scholar, andt member of the Society for Psychical Research [Samuel Butler; William Shakespeare]
Publication details: 
3 December 1930; on letterhead of 114 Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, London, W.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The recipient is not identified. Addressed to ‘My dear Sir’ and signed ‘Herbert Thurston’. He begins by thanking him for ‘the nice things you say’, and continues: ‘I fear I have no defence as regards Samuel Butler. I knew that he had written on the Sonnets and that some people thought highly of his book but I have never seen it. The fact was that I was provoked into talking up the question by some friends who have recently become obsessed by the Oxford theory.

[The Universal Group of Intuitives, Essex spiritualist society.] Printed prospectus: ‘A Message from Angela (General Secretary)’, with portrait, ‘concerning first vol. of the group’s issue of “Spirit Revelation unveils the Bible” by Charles Kingsley.

Author: 
‘Angela’ (Susan Boltwood), General Secretary of the Universal Group of Intuitives, Essex, founded by her and her husband Charles Dennis Boltwood (‘Crusader’); spiritualism; Charles Kingsley
Kingsley
Publication details: 
‘November, 1937. Written from’ ‘Parent Centre, “Eversley”, Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex.’
£180.00
Kingsley

The item advertised in the present prospectus (no other copy of which has been traced) is unaccountably absent from the bibliography of the Victorian author Charles Kingsley. Information regarding the Universal Group of Intuitives was provided to ‘Light’, the journal of the Spiritualist Alliance, by its General Secretary Mrs Frances Boltwood (‘Angela’), and appeared in its number of 10 September 1936.

[Pamphlet.] Spiritualism and Insanity: An Essay describing the disastrous consequences to the Mental Health which are apt to result from a pursuit of the study of Spiritualism. By Dr. C. Williams, Author of Insanity: its Causes and Prevention, etc.

Author: 
Charles Williams (b.1858), LRCP, Assistant Medical Officer, the Warneford, Oxford [spiritualism]
Publication details: 
London: The Ambrose Co., Ltd., 55 & 57 Wigmore Street, W. [1909 or 1910]
£56.00

12mo, 53 + [iii] pp. Text clear and complete. Aged and worn, with loose original front cover, printed in green, remaining from the binding. Stamp of 'The Community of the Resurrection' on title-page. A few manuscript notes in light pencil. Scarce: five copies on COPAC, at the British Library, Oxford, Cambridge, the National Library of Scotland, and University of London, variously dated to 1909 and 1910.

[Sir Oliver Lodge, physicist, inventor and Christian spiritualist.] Typed Letter Signed to Rev. A. H. Sayers, declining to speal to the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union.

Author: 
Sir Oliver Lodge [Oliver Joseph Lodge] (1851-1940), physicist, inventor and Christian Spiritualist [Rev. A. H. Sayers of the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union]
Publication details: 
18 April 1928; on letterhead of Normanton House, Lake, Salisbury.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed ‘To the Rev. A. H. Vayers’, but with the ‘V’ corrected in manuscript to ‘S’. Signed ‘Oliver Lodge’. Reads: ‘My dear Sir, / I am exceedingly busy, and a visit to Monmouth is quite out of the question. There are many others better qualified to speak for The League of Nations Union; and I trust you will have a successfull meeting.’

[Ruby Miller, actress.] Three Autograph Letters Signed (all ?Ruby?) to W. J. Macqueen-Pope (?Popie?), expressing great grief at the death of Ivor Novello, whose spirit form she describes seeing at his memorial performance at Drury Lane.

Author: 
Ruby Miller [Ruby Laura Rose Miller] (1889-1976), English actress, one of the ?Gaiety Girls? [W. J. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian; Ivor Novello, actor, composer and matin?e idol]
Publication details: 
14 March, 6 April and 8 October 1951; all three from 57B York Street, Baker Street, W1 [London].
£120.00

See the entries for writer and recipient in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged, with the last carrying minor rusting from paperclip. ONE: 3pp, 8vo. She got his office number from ?Mrs. Popie?, ?but the line has been busy all the time?. She asks for ?a pass for darling Ivor?s [i.e. Ivor Novello?s] memorial service?. The previous week she was ?playing at the Regent Theatre, Hayes, & on the Monday night I was weighed down by a dreadful foreboding of disaster?.

[Sir Oliver Lodge, physicist, inventor and spiritualist.] Autograph Signature ('Oliver Lodge') for autograph collector.

Author: 
Sir Oliver Lodge [Oliver Joseph Lodge] (1851-1940), physicist and inventor in the field of radio, and Christian Spiritualist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

The signature 'Oliver Lodge' is firmly written in the bottom of three rectangular panels printed in red, with no other writing on the page, on one side of a 12mo leaf removed from 'The Meredith Birthday Book', the other side featuring quotations from the novelist for 13 to 15 June. In good condition, lightly aged.

[A. C. Swinton of Land Nationalisation Society, friend of Alfred Russel Wallace.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to the 'Misses Shore' [poet Louisa Catherine Shore and sister], on their brother in Australia, spiritualism, other topics inc. Wallace

Author: 
A. C. Swinton (d. c.1905) [Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), naturalist, co-conceiver with Darwin of Theory of Evolution; Louisa Catherine Shore (1824-1895), poet; her sister Arabella Susanna Shore]
Publication details: 
ONE: 31 December 1891; The Vine, Sevenoaks, Kent. TWO: 14 August 1893; Parkfield, Haslemere.
£500.00

The context is explained in Wallace's 'Island Life' (1880), in which he discusses 'a fragment of a well-formed stone axe' that his 'friend A. C. Swinton, Esq.' found, 'while working in the then almost unknown gold-field of Maryborough, Victoria, in January, 1855'. Later in the book Wallace refers to the brother of the recipients of the letter, 'Mr. Mackworth Shore', i.e. Mackworth Charles Shore, as 'one of the discoverers of the gold-field, before any rush to it had taken place'. See the Oxford DNB entry on one of the two recipients of the letter, Louisa Catherine Shore.

[Kathleen Raine, poet and author.] Autograph Note Signed ('Kathy') with copy of typescript of Father John Gilling's requiem speech on the poet Jonathan Griffin, and photocopies of three obituaries of Griffin.

Author: 
Kathleen Raine [Kathleen Jessie Raine] (1908-2003), poet and critic, founding member of the Temenos Academy [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright; Jonathan Griffin (1906-1990), poet; John Gilling]
Publication details: 
ACS on letterhead of 7 Sharples Hall Street, London; 1 March 1990. Other items from 1990.
£150.00

Five items in good condition, all lightly aged. ONE: ACS. Signed 'Kathy'. 1 March 1990. Clearly a covering note on sending the other material. Simply reads: 'Good to speak – | love | Kathy'. TWO: Duplicated copy of typescript of speech by 'Fr. John Gilling'. Headed: 'REQUIEM MASS: St. Mary the Virgin, Bourne Street. 7th February 1990. | JONATHAN GRIFFIN'. 2pp, 8vo.

[Imperial College Literary and Debating Society, London.] Printed poster for 'A Lecture on "The Interaction of Life and Matter" by Sir Oliver Lodge, D.Sc., F.R.S.

Author: 
Sir Oliver Lodge [Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge] (1851-1940), physicist, inventor and Christian Spiritualist; W. G. Wren, Hon. Sec., Imperial College Literary and Debating Society, London
Publication details: 
Imperial College Literary and Debating Society, London. 'In the Main Chemistry Lecture Theatre Royal College of Science (Imperial Institute Road, S.W.7) on Monday, 16th March, 1931 At 5-15 p.m.'
£120.00

Printed in black on one side of a 51 x 39 cm piece of light-green paper. Heavily inked, in the variety of types and point sizes typical of the period. Printed on high-acidity paper, and perhaps a unique survival. Aged and worn, with chipping and short closed tears to extremities. Reads: 'Imperial College | Literary and Debating Society | [thick-thin rule] | A LECTURE | ON | “The Interaction of Life | and Matter” | BY | SIR OLIVER LODGE, | D.Sc., F.R.S.

[Charles Arthur Mercier, forensic psychiatrist.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to psychiatrist Bedford Pierce, regarding: the 'spook business', Sir Victor Horsley and 'forcible feeding', punctuation, the 'hopeless' case of 'Jackson'.

Author: 
Charles Arthur Mercier (1851-1919), pioneer in the field of forensic psychiatry and debunker of spiritualism, President of Medico-Psychological Association [Bedford Pierce (1861-1932), psychiatrist]
Publication details: 
Both on letterheads of The Flower House, Southend, Catford, S.E. [London]. 23 July 1906 and 28 December 1909.
£500.00

Both letters are signed 'Chas. Mercier'. ONE 23 July 1906. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper adhering to the blank second leaf. The letter, which is written in a playful tone, begins: 'My dear Bedford Pearce [sic] | Blamed if I do? I am not so ignorant of the Canonical Books as to confuse Prov: 26. 4 with 26. 5. Your offence, which cries aloud to heaven, is the omission of a comma! A quotation should follow the original verbatim et literatim [sic] et punctuatim, and a stop is an integral part of the text.

[ Daniel Dunglas Home; 'Sludge the Medium' ] Substantial Autograph Letter Signed "D.D. Home"

Author: 
D.D. Home [Daniel Dunglas Home (pronounced 'Hume') (1833–1886]), "Sludge the Medium", Scottish physical medium with the reported ability to levitate to a variety of heights,
Publication details: 
[ Printed heading ] Kilmorey House, Norwood [MS] near London, 13 November 1867.
£800.00

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, first page a little grubby, last page (blank) stained, fold marks, mainly good condition. The central subject of this letter is the "suit" which he was fighting (see Note below - accused of "Undue influence" with a deed of gift of £30,000). He thanks his correspondent for a prospectus, adding, "You are doubtless aware that I have a most important suit in Chancery now pending. It is to be hoped that no compromise will be made for it will be a means of placing our good and true cause on a footing which hitherto it has not occupied.

[Col. C. Morley Knight, livestock breeder in Argentina.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C. Morley Knight') to C. E. Fagan, Secretary of the British Museum, commenting on Oliver Lodge and other trustees, and discussing the depression in Argentina.

Author: 
Col. C. Morley Knight [Captain Charles Lewis William Morley Knight] (1863-1937), livestock breeder in Argentina [Charles Edward Fagan (1855-1921), Secretary of the British Museum; Sir Oliver Lodge]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Knight & Porteous, 'La Maria Luisa', Bonifacio, F.C.S. [Buenos Aires, Argentina.] 21 October 1913.
£120.00

2pp., 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with wear to extremities. He begins by discussing his own holiday, Fagan's and that of Porteous, before describing the weather on his trip to Argentina from England, with news of his plans ('I will try & get home for B.M. meeting 10th Janry.' Changing the subject, he writes: 'Hope you are getting to work in the Spirit room. It is a pity we cant have Oliver Lodge on the Sub Cttee. His address bored me & I think it most disappointing. I hoped for something much more exciting. It was only anti-cock-sure-Schafer.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Willm. B Carpenter') from the English zoologist William Benjamin Carpenter, explaining to Rev. John Page Hopps why he cannot address a meeting.

Author: 
William Benjamin Carpenter (1813-1885), English physician, zoologist, physiologist, and Registrar of the University of London from 1856 to 1879 [Rev. John Page Hopps (1834-1911), spiritualist]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the University of London, Burlington Gardens, W. 17 February 1875.
£75.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, on aged paper, tipped in onto a card mount. He explains that he is 'obliged to return to London immediately after the delivery of my Lecture in Glasgow', and so will not be able 'to address the audience you bring together'. If he is 'asked to take part in the Glasgow Science Lectures' the following year, he will bear Hopps's wish in mind. Hopps was both an evolutionist and spiritualist, while Carpenter considered the claims of spiritualism 'epidemic delusions'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Gerald Massey') from the poet and writer Thomas Gerald Massey to the autograph hunter John Bacon of Blackburn, discussing his English publications, and stating that he is 'busy with the real Work of my life'.

Author: 
Gerald Massey [Thomas Gerald Massey] (1828-1907), English poet and writer [John Bacon of Blackburn, autograph hunter]
Publication details: 
New Southgate, London N. 11 August 1882.
£250.00

2pp., 4to. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. In envelope, with postmark and stamp, addressed to 'John Bacon Esqr.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Howitt') from the English author William Howett [to the editor of the Literary Gazette William Jerdan?], requesting a favourable review [of his 'Popular History of Priestcraft'].

Author: 
William Howitt (1792-1879), English poet and author, originally a Quaker, friend of Elizabeth Gaskell and advocate of spiritualism [William Jerdan (1782-1869), editor of the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
Nottingham. [1833.]
£56.00

1p., 16mo. On aged paper, with minor damage on removal from album. He requests 'the favour of an early notice in your journal, of the accompanying little volume if it be fortunate enough to meet your approbation'. The work has 'no object but to serve true religion & true liberty'. In a postscript he requests a 'copy of the paper containing the notice'. Howitt practised as a chemist in Nottingham between 1822 and 1836, when he moved to Esher, Surrey.

Bold Signature only.

Author: 
Oliver Lodge, spiritualist and author
Oliver Lodge, spiritualist and author
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£23.00
Oliver Lodge, spiritualist and author

6.5 x 2.5cm, staining from having been laid down in an album (residual glue), but signature clear.

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