Author: CROSLAND, Newton.
Title: Apparitions; An Essay, Explanatory of Old Facts and a New Theory. To which are added, sketches and adventures.
Description: London, Trubner 1873. Octavo publisher's cloth (a little rubbed and flecked); [8],166,[2]pp. ¶ Uncommon; a crusade in the cause of Spiritualism, bellicose but not unfair according to the author: "If I have punished my adversaries, ... [I fight] with the spirit of the pugilist or fencer, and not with the feelings of an enemy". Crosland published a version of his essay in 1856 and has reworked it here, given the developments in Spiritualism - and opposition to Spiritualism - in the intervening years. Appended are three short pieces of fiction, the first, 'Hartsore Hall' is a ghost story. Crosland's career, in literary terms, is overshadowed by that of his wife - Mrs Newton Crosland oddly enough - but his works were not unambitious; they include his 'New Principia' (1884) in which he overturns Newtonian theories of the universe. He did publish an autobiography late in life (1898) but that has so far eluded me as effectively as his 'Principia'.

Keywords: philosophy spiritualism occult religion c19th reform progress