learns her powers
studied by the Scientific American committee
Massey, Gerald
materialism
Mayumba, S.S.
McCabe, Joseph
death of
on-stage debate about the truth of spiritualism
McClintock, Mary Ann
McComas, Henry Clay
McDougall, William
McGill University
medical diagnosis
mediums
arrests of, under witchcraft and vagrancy laws
confessions of
megaphone trick
Melbourne, Australia
Mellen, Dr.
Memories and Adventures (Doyle’s memoirs)
mene, mene, tekel, upharsin
Mesmer, Franz Anton
mesmerism
decline of, with rise of spiritualism
a plot device in stories
Methodism
“Midg” quarter-plate box camera
Mill, John Stuart
Mons, Battle of
Mott, Lucretia
Munn, Orson
Myers, F. W. H.
“The Mystery of Sasassa Valley” (Doyle)
Napoleon III
narwhals
Nash’s magazine
National Laboratory of Psychical Research
National Spiritualist Association
natural disaster foretold by Pheneas
Nature, as god
“New Age” devotees
The New Revelation (Doyle)
New York City
Doyle’s visit to (1922)
Fox sisters’ séances in (1850)
New York Evening Graphic
The New York Herald
New York Press
The New York Times
New-York Tribune
The New York World
North Pole
observation, keen, Doyle’s learning of, in medical school
Oldham, Leslie
Ouija board
Our American Adventure (Doyle)
Oursler, Fulton
Owen, Robert Dale
Palladino, Eusapia
Paradise
paranormal
parapsychology
Patten, Mr.
Paul, Saint
Doyle as
Pecoraro, Nino
Pellew, George
Peters, A. Vout
Pheneas (Doyle family spirit guide)
Pheneas Speaks (Doyle)
Phinuit (Mrs. Piper’s control)
photographs, faking of
piano, death knell from a
Piper, Alta
Piper, Leonora
Piper, William
Plymouth, England
Poe, Edgar Allan
Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society
Post, Amy
Post, Isaac
Powell, Ellis
Powell, Evan
Powell, Frederick Eugene
Price, Harry
Price, Jacques
Prince, Dr. Walter Franklin
Princess Mary’s Gift Book
Princip, Gavrilo
Professor Challenger series
psychical research, prejudice against, in academic departments
Psychic Press and Bookshop (Doyle’s), Victoria Street, London
psychokinesis
Pulver, Lucretia
Punch magazine
Puységur, Marquis de
Quakers
R 101 dirigible
Rand, John
Rayleigh, Lord
Raymond, Henry J.
Redfield, Charles
Redfield, Mrs.
religion
in America
decline of, owing to modern conceptions of the universe
outmoded sects, according to Doyle
scientific proof of, attempted
unity of all sects
remote viewing
reproducibility of results
rescue séance
Revelation, Book of
Rhine, Joseph Banks
Richardson, Dr. Mark Wiley
Richet, Charles
Riley, William
Ripley, George
Robbins, Miss
Robert-Houdin, Jean
Roberts, Estelle
Rochester, NY
Corinthian Hall demonstrations
Rochester Democrat
Rochester rappings
committees of five to examine
fanciful explanations of
identity of the spirit (a murdered peddler)
said to be a trick
the spirit demands a demonstration
Rodney Stone
Rogers, Dawson
Roman Catholicism, Doyle’s upbringing in and later view of
Roosevelt, Theodore
Royal Albert Hall, London
royalty, Doyle’s acquaintance with
Russian Revolution
Rymer, Thomas
Satan
Sawyer, Julia
Scandinavia, Doyle’s tours in
Schrenck-Notzing, Albert Freiherr von
The Science of the Soul (early spiritualist title)
Scientific American magazine
committee to investigate psychic phenomena
reward of $5000 for proof of psychic phenomena
shuts down the investigation, to the discontent of readers
scientific method, and search for truth
séances
of 1850 in New York City
origin of
scientific investigations of
Seneca Falls Convention
Shaw, George Bernard
Sherlock Holmes character
creation of, by Doyle
fans of, thought him real
“has died!” (Doyle renounces writing about him)
stories written by Doyle
Sidgwick, Henry
Simon, Sir John
Sinclair, Gordon
slate writing
Smilovitz, Sam
Smith, Herbert Greenhough
Smith, Jacob
Snelling, Harold
Society for Psychical Research (SPR)
Proceedings
Somme, Battle of the
South Africa
Southsea, Hampshire, England
Spanish influenza epidemic
Spencer, Herbert
Spirit Messenger
spiritoscope
spirit photography
spiritualism
definition of
Doyle’s initial skepticism about
eighth principle proposed by Doyle
famous adherents of
fraud claimed as basis of
growth of, from loss of faith
on-stage debate about the truth of (1920)
opponents of
opposed by atheists
opposed by clergymen
origin of
popularity of movement
as a religion
scientific investigations of
skepticism about
Sunday church services of
women in the forefront of
Spiritualists’ National Union
The Spiritual Telegraph newspaper
Splitfoot (the devil)
“Spook House,” Hydesville, NY
Sprague, Achsa
Stafford, John
Stanford, Leland, Jr.
Stanford, Thomas Welton
Stanford University, Charles Bailey apports in archives of
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
The Stark Munro Letters
Stephen (husband of Maria Fox)
Stinson, Walter
Margery the Medium’s brother, death of
prophesied death of Houdini
a spirit-control in the Margery case
stock market crash of 1929
Stone, Lucy
Stonyhurst College, Doyle in
; The Strand Magazine
A Study in Scarlet (Doyle)
suffragists
supernormal phenomena
table tipping
Tanner, Amy
telepathy
as explanation of psychics’ ability
Tesla, Nikola
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Theosophical Society
Thomas, Reverend C.
Thoreau, Henry David
thought-transference
Tomson, Mrs. Elizabeth
trances (magnetic sleep)
trance-writing
transatlantic crossings by air
transcendentalists
Tyndall, John
Underground Railroad
University of Buffalo
U.S. Congress, drafting an anti-fortune-telling bill
Uvani (Eileen Garrett’s control)
Valentine, George
veil of death
breaching the
rending of, from a great natural catastrophe
ventriloquism, as explanation of a spirit’s voice
Verrall, Arthur
Verrall, Margaret
Villiers, Major Oliver
The Vital Message (Doyle)
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Watson, Dr. (character)
Weekman, Michael
Weisz, Bill
Weisz, Erich. See Houdini, Harry
Weisz, Rabbi (Houdini’s father)
Weisz, Theo
Wells, H. G.
whales, hunting for
Whitehead, J. Gordon
Willets, George
Willis, Nathaniel Parker
Windlesham country house (Doyle’s), East Sussex
Winter, Alison
witchcraft and vagrancy laws, arrest of mediums under
women
rights movement
as spiritualists
Wood, Robert W.
Worcester, Dr. Elwood
World War I
dead and wounded of
psychic effect of
Wright, Arthur
Wright, Elsie
admitted that she faked fairy photographs
Wright, Polly
Yeats, William Butler
Yorkshire, England
Ypres, Battle of
Zander, H. R.
ALSO BY STEFAN BECHTEL
Mr. Hornaday’s War
Tornado Hunter
Dogtown: Tales of Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Redemption
Roar of the Heavens
Growing a Fortune
What Women Want (with Laurence Roy Stains)
The Good Luck Book (with Laurence Roy Stains)
Sex: A Man’s Guide (with Laurence Roy Stains)
The Practical Encyclopedia of Sex and Health
Katherine, It’s Time
Redemption Alley (with Bob Perry)
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
STEFAN BECHTEL is the author or coauthor of twelve books, including Mr. Hornaday’s War and Redemption Alley, which have sold more than two million copies and been translated into ten languages. His work has appeared in Esquire, The Washington Post, and other publications. Bechtel and Stains met in 1985 while working on the start-up team that created Men’s Health. You can sign up for email updates here.
LAURENCE ROY STAINS has been the editor of Philadelphia Magazine and was the founding editor of New Shelter. He has written for national publications, including The New York Times Magazine and The Washington Post. He is an associate professor of journalism at Temple University. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Authors’ Note
PROLOGUE: The Infinite Strangeness of Life
CHAPTER ONE: Into the Unknown
CHAPTER TWO: “Mister Splitfoot, Do as I Do!”
CHAPTER THREE: The Spiritual Wildfire
CHAPTER FOUR: The Invention of Sherlock Holmes
CHAPTER FIVE: The Science of the Unseen
CHAPTER SIX: “Some Splendid Starry Night”
CHAPTER SEVEN: The Saint Paul of Spiritualism
CHAPTER EIGHT: An Embarrassment of Fairies
CHAPTER NINE: The Strangest Friendship in History
CHAPTER TEN: Sex, Lies, and Séances
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Houdini Cheats … Again
CHAPTER TWELVE: “We Have Just Begun to Fight!”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A Death Foretold
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: The Lion in Winter
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Sir Arthur, Is That You?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Also by Stefan Bechtel
About the Authors
Copyright
THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY. Copyright © 2017 by Stefan Bechtel and Laurence Roy Stains. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Ervin Serrano
Cover photograph of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle courtesy of Toronto Public Library
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-07679-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-8846-3 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466888463
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact your local bookseller or the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First Edition: June 2017
Through a Glass, Darkly Page 30