An Exposition of Spiritualism; Comprising Two Series of Letters, and A Review of the "Spiritual Magazine" No. 20. As published in The "Star and Dial"
London: George Manwaring, Publisher, 1862. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Octavo. xii + 314pp. Dark pebbled cloth with gilt lettering and embellishments to spine, appendixes. Polka-dot pattern applied to boards. The scarce first edition of this volume in which the anonymous, and clearly sceptical, author has collated correspondence and other articles which appeared in the "Morning Star" in the Autumn of 1860 and 1861, with the goal of placing the whole question of Spiritualism on a rational and scientific plane. From the collection of Dr. M. H. Coleman, with his ex-libris seal blind-stamped on the front free endpaper. The binding has a carefully executed symetrical pattern of white spots on the spine, boards, and inner edges of the boards. The pattern is so well done that we initially thought it must be original to the volume, but on reflection simply cannot conceive that a publisher would have done this. Unfortunately the book is sufficiently scarce that we have been unable to find another copy for comparison, however we would *guess* that the dots have been added by a previous owner, a labour that must have taken many hours of concentrated effort. If this is the case, it must have been done when the book was still relatively new, as the wear and darkening to the spots matches the other natural aging of the volume. A real puzzle? Spine a bit darkened and chafed at ends, corners lightly bumped and rubbed, page edges and first and last leaves browned, pages toned, binders label on rear pastedown. Overall a tight, unmarked VG+ copy of a scarce work - albeit with the mysterious polkadots. Item #61395
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