CONFESSIONS OF A MEDIUM
Published by Griffith, Farran, Okeden & Welsh, London, 1882
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Type Punch Matrix, Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.Type Punch Matrix
AbeBooks seller since September 8, 2020
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 288.47
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Rare first edition of this lightly fictionalized, anonymously published confessional narrative by Chapman, the English mesmerist and former partner of American materializing medium Alfred-Henri Firman, one of the defendants in a widely publicized French spirit photography trial in 1875. Alfred Firman, depicted here as the charismatic and reprehensible fraud "Thomson," was not only a medium but a second-generation medium: son of that Louise Firman mentioned as "Mrs. Firman the medium" in Conan Doyle's History of Spiritualism and eulogized upon her death in 1879 as "one of the most powerful mediums of this age." Mother and son rose from humble New Jersey origins to the elite Spiritualist circles of England and France in the early 1870s, holding private seances in connection with psychical investigators, interrupted by A. Firman's arrest in the matter of Edouard Buguet's fraudulent spirit photographs, for which, despite the supportive testimony of his loyal patron the Comte de Bullet, Firman served six months in a French prison. By the time the action of CONFESSIONS commences, Firman had returned to London and acquired the perfidious Chapman to give public lectures while the spirits manifested. Chapman, who represents himself as an earnest true believer who very slowly came to recognize his complicity with a charlatan, turned on his mentor only when abandoned by him: Firman/Thomson went alone to Russia in 1880, leaving his partner behind with nothing to do with his time but write a book. Following its publication, the Spiritualist papers readily identified and vilified its author, who names many names not his own, and upon his return to England Firman was reduced to giving "self-exposure" shows, bringing out his finest spirits for a few laughs. A vital if untrustworthy document of Victorian social history. 7'' x 4.25''. Original red and and black decorative cloth with gilt-lettered spine. With 5 black and white illustrations. 232 pages. Light edgewear and bumping, spine sunned. Some soil to boards and spine, soil to lower margins of pages 20-21. …
Seller Inventory # 50010
Bibliographic details
- Title
- CONFESSIONS OF A MEDIUM
- Author
- [Chapman, William]
- Publisher
- Griffith, Farran, Okeden & Welsh, London
- Publication year
- 1882
- Condition
- Very good plus.
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Edition
- First Edition.
- Dimensions
- 7'' x 4.25''.
- Seller catalogs
- Lit
Type Punch Matrix
Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 8.96 |
Payment methods
Store description
Type Punch Matrix is a rare book firm founded by Rebecca Romney and Brian Cassidy. Between them, they bring over 30 years of experience in the antiquarian book trade. TPM sells a mixture of beloved classics and innovative texts from throughout print history, for collectors and institutions alike. Handpress and modern books, archives and manuscripts, letterpress and ephemera: TPM aims to make collecting both more accessible and more diverse, and believes in the mindful acquisition, preservation, and celebration of the materials of our literary cultures. …
Specialty
Rare and collectible first edition mainly.Association member
Seller's business information
Type Punch Matrix Inc.
1111 East West Highway, Suite 300
Silver Spring, MD U.S.A. 20910
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