Title: HYPNOTISM: MAGNETISM, MESMERISM, SUGGESTIVE THERAPEUTICS AND MAGNETIC HEALING
Author: L.W. De Laurence
Publisher: Alhambra Book Company
City: ChicagoYear: 1863 (First Edition)Binding Style: Hardcover
Pagination: 188Illustrated: Yes
Book Details + Condition: HYPNOTISM: MAGNETISM, MESMERISM,
SUGGESTIVE THERAPEUTICS AND MAGNETIC HEALING. Including All That is Known in
the Art and Practice of Hypnotism, Mesmerism, Mental and Magnetic Healing.
Prepared for the Self-instruction of Beginners as Well as for the Use of Advanced Students and Practitioners. Hardcover. Small octavo. Elaborately
illustrated deep red cloth gilt-lettered on spine and front board, gilt, yellow and black designs on spine and front board. Top-edge gilt. Black-and-white
frontispiece and several b/w plates. It is illustrated with wonderful period
photographs. In pristine condition: we are unsure as to how this has remained
quite so immaculate, but happy that it has. Boards are bright and colorful; no
interior markings; one small imprint tear to p. 149 (and I wouldn’t doubt,
given this condition, that it was a publisher error; doesn't affect text). This copy is an
exceptionally scarce first edition from 1900 by Alhambra Book Company — which had
a falling out with De Laurence. HYPNOTISM was immediately republished (with
permission?) by New York/Chicago book publisher Henneberry. According to Owen
Davies in his book “Grimoires, A History of Magic Books,” The Alhambra Book Co.
became Henneberry in 1901.
From the Preface: In bringing before the public
this book on Hypnotism, Mesmerism, and Suggestive Therapeutics, or the
treatment of disease by Hypnotism and Suggestion. I feel that no apology id
necessary for introducing so important a subject. No method of treatment has during the last
few yeas attracted so much interest among men of science and members of the
medical profession, as has the science of Hypnotism and Suggestion. The dangers
of Hypnotism and Mesmerism have been proven chemical; and are merely imaginary,
for in proper hands no undesirable medical result can occur through its
practice, and there is, I believe, hardly one authenticated case of its being
used for a criminal purpose in the countries where it is extensively used,
especially by the medical profession. More than this can hardly be said of any
system of medical treatment. The treatment of disease by Hypnotism and
Suggestion has been very successful where it has been practiced by qualified
physicians and intelligent operators whose knowledge and experience has taught
them to use of hypnotism and Mesmerism in its practical application, and many
noted physicians unhesitatingly advocate its use as a powerful auxiliary in
combating many forms of nervous and other diseases, not readily reached by
other means. Hypnotism and Mesmerism, so
called, consists of a true knowledge of the science of the human mind, or soul.
