The Soul of Things; or, Psychometric Researches and Discoveries

Boston: Denton, 1873; (1863). Sixth ed. revised (stated). One of apparently 3 volumes. Octavo in burgundy cloth; 370p, index; adverts at rear. Sewn binding. Spine mildly sunned; sping head and foort lightly worn; binding tight & ;eavs clean. Very good(-) to good(++) thus. Hardcover.

Uncommon, A later, more comprehensive editon. "How often, on looking at some gray old boulder, we have wished it woud relate its history and tell us what had passed" (p53); Volume 1 only of the later, more comprehensive edition. A fascinating work on psychometry that explores the ability to obtain information about an object or its owner by touching or being near the object. Describes numerous experiments where Elizabeth Denton and others would hold various specimens (fossils, artifacts, fragments of meteorites) and report visions or impressions they received, supposedly revealing the history of these objects. Denton claimed these experiments demonstrated that objects contained "soul emanations" or recorded impressions of everything they had experienced. An intersection of scientific inquiry and spiritual exploration that characterized much of 19th-century thought, particularly relating to the Spiritualist movement. Denton died in 1883. // Spiritualism, Psychic Studies, 19th Century Psychology & Magic.