This edition provides an insight into the dark areas between Victorian science, medicine and religion. The rare reset source material in this collection is organized thematically and spans the period
The renowned lawyer and journalist Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907) published this work in 1885. In this work Olcott carefully lays out his arguments for the basis of theosophy, arguing for the truth of all religions because they share the same ancient roots or 'ur-religion'. As a founding member and the first president of the Theosophical Society, Olcott uses the work to set out the aims and objectives of the Society and attempts to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with science, reason and modernity. The work also includes accounts of his attempted empirical investigations into hypnotism, mesmerism and other spiritualist activities. The final chapters include discussions of India, Buddhism and Zoroastrian religion. The work was deeply influenced by Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891), then Olcott's close friend but later his opponent. It is a key text of the nineteenth-century theosophical movement and is an indispensable source for research into Victorian occult philosophy.
Henry Christmas (1811–68) was a scholar of very wide interests and a fellow of both the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He wrote extensively about many subjects including philosophy, religion, literature, mythology and numismatics. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge, and soon afterwards became the librarian and secretary of Sion College. Between 1840 and 1860 he edited a number of books and journals, including The Literary Gazette. He also translated Calmet's Phantom World, and Wieland's Republic of Fools into English. Published in 1849, this two-volume set examines how popular mythology kept alive beliefs about the occult, alchemy and the paranormal. Volume 2 considers witchcraft, mesmerism, fairy mythology, alchemy and ghosts, and shows how some of these beliefs were so entrenched that they came to be regarded almost as fact, and so influenced rational thought. The volume concludes with comparison of superstitious beliefs with factual knowledge.
Published in 1849, this two-volume set examines how popular mythology kept alive beliefs about the occult, alchemy and the paranormal. Examining witchcraft, astrology, mesmerism, alchemy and much more
This work is one of a number of manuscripts crafted towards the end of the 1800s well into the 1920s containing material related to all aspects of the occult; mesmerism, ceremonial magic, the black ar
The novels of Charles Dickens (1812–70), with their inimitable energy and their comic, tragic and grotesque characters, are still widely read, and reworked for film and television. Dickens himself had the original manuscripts of his works bound and presented them to his friends. That of Great Expectations was given to Chauncy Hare Townshend, with whom Dickens shared an interest in mesmerism and the occult. Townshend bequeathed his library (including the manuscript), together with collections of paintings and objects, to the Wisbech and Fenland Museum in 1868. The manuscript has been newly photographed and is here reproduced in colour and at actual size. The Cambridge Library Collection is also reissuing the serialised version of Great Expectations (1860–1) and the first book edition (1861, in three volumes). Dickens scholars and enthusiasts can now study the work-in-progress, with all its deletions and revisions, alongside the first two published versions.
