Mesmeric Clairvoyance in Mid-Victorian Literature: Eliot, Bulwer-Lytton, and MacDonald

Helena Ifill

Mesmeric Clairvoyance in Mid-Victorian Literature: Eliot, Bulwer-Lytton, and MacDonald

English

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In 1845, the natural philosopher William Grove reviewed Chauncy Hare Townshend's Facts in Mesmerism with Reasons for a Dispassionate Inquiry into it (1840) for Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.¹ Grove warily admitted that he was "by no means indisposed to believe some of the abnormal phenomena of mesmerism" but insisted on his "right to doubt, to disbelieve" (220). Such an attitude allowed popular magazines like Blackwood's to run articles on a subject that fascinated the Victorian public without appearing gullible.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	118-132
Number of pages	15
Journal	Supernatural Studies
Volume	2
Issue number	2
Publication status	Published - Jul 2015

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Helena Ifill
- School of Language, Literature, Music & Visual Culture, English - Senior Lecturer
- School of Divinity, History & Philosophy, Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHPSTM)
Person: Academic

Cite this

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AB - In 1845, the natural philosopher William Grove reviewed Chauncy Hare Townshend's Facts in Mesmerism with Reasons for a Dispassionate Inquiry into it (1840) for Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.1 Grove warily admitted that he was "by no means indisposed to believe some of the abnormal phenomena of mesmerism" but insisted on his "right to doubt, to disbelieve" (220). Such an attitude allowed popular magazines like Blackwood's to run articles on a subject that fascinated the Victorian public without appearing gullible.

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Mesmeric Clairvoyance in Mid-Victorian Literature: Eliot, Bulwer-Lytton, and MacDonald

Abstract

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Helena Ifill

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