Sketches Of The Philosophy Of Apparitions; or, an Attempt To Trace Such Illusions To Their Physical Causes.
Edinburgh, London: Oliver & Boyd and Geo. B. Whittaker, 1825. Second, enlarged. Hardcover. Small 8vo. xii + 475 pp. Contemporary decorated half calf with marbled boards, gilt titling to spine label, raised bands and elaborate gilt decoration to spine, speckled page edges, folding table, vignettes, notes. The second, enlarged edition (published one year after the first) of this famous early attempt by Samuel Hibbert (1782–1848) to provide a scientific explanation of apparitions of all sorts, "good spirits", ghosts, demons and others. In his work Hibbert, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, secretary of the Society of Scottish Antiquarians, and member of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, and Philosophical Society of Manchester sought to provide a theoretical framework for a theory of apparitions using information drawn from a large number of different reports of apparitions, examined in the light of then-current theories of the mind.Spine ends and corners a bit rubbed with a bit of loss at upper spine and lower corners, lower edge chafed. Leather of front hinge a bit tender with one inch crack from head of spine, bookplate residue on front pastedown, foxing to early pages (contents and fold-out), owner's names penned to title page and opposite, otherwise text pages bright and unmarked. Overall a sound VG copy. Item #2289
Price: $295.00