Essays in Psychical Research

xv, [1], 330, [2] pp. 8vo. Ada Goodrich-Freer, who published most of her works under the pseudonym 'Miss X', was a self-described mystic and psychic who wrote quite a few books and articles in this field. She was likely among those fraudulently capitalizing on the popularity of spiritualism at the time, though: she was expelled from the Society for Psychical Research based on such suspicions, and was later found to be faking a seance. Violet Tweedale, to whom this book belonged, also wrote numerous works in the field (as well as quite a few novels). Tweedale was an associated of Helena Blavatsky, the prominent Russian occultist and founder of the Theosophical Society. Tweedale belonged to the Order of the Golden Dawn. Her 1924 book Phantoms of the Dawn included a preface by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the writer of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Doyle was a self-declared spiritualist, and attended numerous seances and other such gatherings. He was also a member of the same society that rejected Goodrich-Freer. In this work, 'Miss X' discusses haunted houses, crystal-gazing, dowsing, hypnotism, psychic healing, and second sight. An interesting book with a fascinating association.