The Hidden Way Across The Threshold. The Mystery Which Hath Been Hidden For Ages And From Generations. An Explanation Of The Concealed Forces In Every Man To Open The Temple Of The Soul and Learn The Guidance Of The Unseen Hand; ( Illustrated and Made Plain with as few Occult Phrases as Possible )
London: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Publishers, ND ( circa 1890s ). Reprint. Hardcover. Thick octavo. xii + 598 pp. Original green cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine. B&w frontispiece. An early printing of this scarce monumental treatise by John C. Street which includes the new introduction to the Third Edition. The book comprises "a compilation containing thoughts from many minds, from Intelligences in the form and out of it, from Souls embodied and disembodied." Much concerns the typical subjects of Spiritualism, though it also meanders through areas with which the Spiritualists were generally less preoccupied: astrology, astral travel, comparative religion, etc. etc. The author apparently kept largely to himself and little is known of him other than that he claimed to be a fellow of two occult fraternities 'the Order S.S.S.' and the 'Brotherhood Z.Z.R.R.Z.Z.' He apparently also had medical training in Edinburgh, and worked as a physician in Boston and Brooklyn, though his qualifications and right to practice were called into question when he was (falsely he said) charged with assaulting his landlady in 1903. In his later years he worked as a fortune teller, specializing in 'Oriental Crystal Reading' and 'Psychic communications.' Tiny spot of white paint on spine, spine titling a little dulled, hint of rubbing to head and tail of spine and points. Previous owner's esoterically-themed bookplate on front pastedown, otherwise internally fine. A bright, tight and overall VG + or better copy (no dust jacket issued). Scarce. Item #66078
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