BROWN, J. H. ("of Brighton")]. Spectropia; or, Surprising Spectral Illusions, showing Ghosts Everywhere and of any Colours, New York: James G. Gregory, 1864. 4° (240 x 190mm). 16 hand-coloured plates, 2 duplicate plates on one sheet loosely-inserted. (Light speckled browning throughout.) Original cloth-backed paper-covered pictorial boards (lightly stained, corners rubbed, a few marginal tears to paper, inner hinges breaking). Behind the book's apparently recreational purpose lies a more serious aim as stated in the author's preface: "...the extinction of the superstitious belief that apparations are actual spirits, by showing some of the many ways in which our senses may be deceived ..." Brown was alarmed at the growing interest in spiritualism, a "mental epidemic" which he believed to be caused by fraudulent mediums preying on a gullible public.
BROWN, J. H. ("of Brighton")]. Spectropia; or, Surprising Spectral Illusions, showing Ghosts Everywhere and of any Colours, New York: James G. Gregory, 1864. 4° (240 x 190mm). 16 hand-coloured plates, 2 duplicate plates on one sheet loosely-inserted. (Light speckled browning throughout.) Original cloth-backed paper-covered pictorial boards (lightly stained, corners rubbed, a few marginal tears to paper, inner hinges breaking). Behind the book's apparently recreational purpose lies a more serious aim as stated in the author's preface: "...the extinction of the superstitious belief that apparations are actual spirits, by showing some of the many ways in which our senses may be deceived ..." Brown was alarmed at the growing interest in spiritualism, a "mental epidemic" which he believed to be caused by fraudulent mediums preying on a gullible public.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
