The Ricky Jay Collection Part III

BISHOP, Washington Irving (1855 – 1889). Exposure of So-Called Spiritual Manifestations. N.p., [ca. 1878]. One-color letterpress handbill with black ink on pink stock quoting an endorsement of the early American mentalist and spiritualist debunker by well-known British physician, psychical researcher, and critic of paranormal phenomena, William Benjamin Carpenter (1813 – 1885), among other attestations. 12 x 5 ¾”. Horizontal creases, soiling, scattered losses affecting text.Bishop is perhaps as well known for his peculiar death as much as his peculiar mind reading ability. He was the manager of famed medium and stage performer Anna Eva Fay, but exposed her methods to the media in 1876. Later Bishop would utilize his talents as a muscle reader and mentalist to forge his own successful career. Bishop met a sad end when a cataleptic or narcoleptic episode gave the appearance he had lapsed into a coma. The physicians who examined him had no knowledge of Bishop’s condition, so pronounced him dead and conducted an autopsy. Forever after, his grief-stricken mother claimed that her son had been murdered by the procedure.