This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/1/2023
[SPIRITUALISM]. FERRIAR, John (1761-1815). An Essay Towards a Theory of Apparitions. London: J. and J. Haddock for Caddell and Davies, 1813.
Small 8vo. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, rebacked (covers rubbed, renewed endpapers and blanks).
FIRST EDITION. Of the many books on ghosts which had appeared since Ludwig Lavater’s Of Ghosts and Spirits in 1572, Ferriar was the first who attempted an entirely physio-pathological explanation. A general physician interested in many aspects of public health, Ferriar showed from historical examples and his own clinical experience “that a morbid disposition of the brain is capable of producing spectral impressions, without any external prototypes.” These could occur in the absence of generalized delirium and “exclusive of actual insanity…even while the patient is convinced of their fallacy” (see Hunter & Macalpine, p. 543-44). Norman 790; Osler 2581; Wellcome III:21. A Horowitz high spot.