PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH - 1892, Volume 8
Book Details + Condition: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. (London). First Edition, 1892. Hardcover. 647 pages, with Index to front. Illustrated. Scarce first edition, original copy of PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF PSYCHICAL RESEARCH from 1892. Publisher's original green cloth boards with gilt title, etc. to spine. Contents of this volume include: Observations on Trans-Phenomena; Phantasms of the Dead; Conjuring Spirit Phenomena; Record of a Haunted House; Hypermnesic Dreams; Experiments in Clairvoyance; Experiments in Thought-Transference; Fraud with Clairvoyance and Prophecy; and much more. Notable contributing authors include: Dr. A. Blair Thaw, F.W.H. Myers, Richard Hodgson, R.C. Morton, and others. Please see our other listings for more first editions of THE SOCIETY OF PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, as well as information about the organization below. Interior hinges cracked, but binding remains firm; lightly rubbed corners and edges; some aging and discoloration to boards; light foxing to front and rear endpapers; interior is clean and free of markings.
The Society for Psychical Research was created in 1882, with Henry Sidgwick serving as its first president. Its stated purpose was to apply scientific methods to the investigation of psychic phenomena and the paranormal. Areas of study included hypnotism, dissociation, thought-transference, mediumship, spirit possession, apparitions and haunted houses and the physical phenomena associated with séances. The SPR were the first to introduce a number of neologisms which have entered the English language, such as 'telepathy', which was coined by Frederic Myers. Much of the early work involved investigating, exposing and in some cases duplicating fake phenomena. Among its most renowned members were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Price, and William T. Stead.
