PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH - 1896-1897, Volume 12
Book Details + Condition: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. (London). First Edition, 1897. Hardcover. 391 pages, with Index to rear. Illustrated. Scarce first edition, original copy of PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF PSYCHICAL RESEARCH from 1896-97. Publisher's original green cloth boards with gilt title, etc. to spine. Contents of this volume include: Poltergeists; Glossary of Terms Used in Psychical Research; Experiments in Crystal-Vision; Sub-Conscious Reasoning; Speaking with Tongues; Involuntary Whispering Considered in Relation to Experiments in Thought-Transference; Experiments in Normal Motor Automatism and Review of "A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life" by T.J. Hudson. Notable contributing authors include: James Hyslop, Frank Podmore, Walter Leaf, Harlow Gale, F.W.H. Myers, Alice Johnson, 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. In very good condition, with firm binding; lightly rubbed corners and edges; slight discoloration to boards; 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.
