Spectres of the Self: Thinking about Ghosts and Ghost-Seeing in England, 1750-1920

288 Pages·2010·4.523 MB·English

by  Shane McCorristine

Spectres of the Self
SpectresoftheSelf isafascinatingstudyoftherichculturessurrounding
theexperienceofseeingghostsinEnglandfromtheEnlightenmentto
the twentieth century. Shane McCorristine examines a vast range of
primary and secondary sources, showing how ghosts, apparitions and
hallucinationswereimagined,experiencedanddebatedfromthepages
of fiction to the case reports of the Society for Psychical Research.
Byanalysingabroadrangeofthemesfromtelepathyandghost-hunting
tothenotionofdreamingwhileawakeandthequestionofwhyghosts
wore clothes, Dr McCorristine reveals the sheer variety of ideas of
ghost-seeing in English society and culture. He shows how the issue
of ghosts remained dynamic despite the advance of science and secu-
larism,andarguesthattheghostultimatelyrepresentedaspectreofthe
self,asymbolofthepsychologicalhauntednessofmodernexperience.
shane mccorristine is a postdoctoral fellow at Ludwig-
Maximilians-Universita¨t Mu¨nchen and a visiting research fellow at
theInstituteofEnglishStudies,UniversityofLondon.

Spectres of the Self: Thinking
about Ghosts and Ghost-Seeing
in England, 1750–1920
Shane McCorristine
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
McCorristine,Shane,1983–
Spectresoftheself:thinkingaboutghostsandghost-seeinginEngland,
1750–1920/ShaneMcCorristine.
p. cm.
ISBN978-0-521-76798-9(Hardback)–ISBN978-0-521-74796-7(pbk.)
1. Ghosts–England–History. 2. Parapsychology. I. Title.
BF1472.G7M3852010
133.10942–dc22
2010020689
ISBN978-0-521-76798-9Hardback
ISBN978-0-521-74796-7Paperback
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Contents
List of illustrations pagevii
Acknowledgements viii
List ofabbreviations x
Introduction 1
I. Thedreams of theghost-seers 25
1. The haunted mind, 1750–1850 27
Ghostsreformed 27
Thephantasmagoricdislocation 31
ThecaseofNicolai 40
Thespectralillusionsmodel 43
HallucinationsandillusionsinFrenchpsychiatry 52
AChristmasCaroland‘TheHauntedMind’ 61
2. Seeing is believing: hallucinations and ghost-seeing 66
ThedreamsoftheGeistersehers:KantandSchopenhauer
onghost-seeing 66
Hallucinations,spiritualismandpathology 75
Theclothesofghosts 90
II. A science of thesoul 101
3. Ghost-hunting in the Society for Psychical Research 103
TheSocietyforPsychicalResearch 103
Ghost-huntingintheSocietyforPsychicalResearch 114
Thesociologyofthepsychicalghoststory 127
4. Phantasms of the living and the dead 139
Phantasmsoftheliving 139
CriticismsofPhantasmsoftheLiving 162
Phantasmsofthedead 172
Ascienceofthesoul? 182
v
vi Contents
5. The conceptof hallucination in late Victorianpsychology 192
TheconceptofhallucinationintheSocietyforPsychicalResearch 192
The‘ReportontheCensusofHallucinations’ 194
Dreamingwhileawake 202
Someconclusions 210
Epilogue: towards1920 218
Appendix 229
Bibliography 244
Index 271
Illustrations
1. The Ghost Illusion.Source:Jean-Euge`ne-Robert
Houdin, The Secrets of StageConjuring,ed. and
trans.ProfessorHoffmann[Angelo JohnLewis]
(London, 1881). Courtesyof the UniversityLibrary,
Cambridge. page34
2. FranciscoJose´ de GoyayLucientes, El Suen˜ode
la RazonProduce Monstruos (1799). Courtesyof
the Trustees of the British Museum. 38
3. Robert W.Buss, Dickens’ Dream(1875). Courtesy
of the Charles DickensMuseum. 64
4. GeorgeCruikshank,Alas, Poor Ghost! Source:
GeorgeRaymond, The LifeandEnterprisesof Robert
WilliamElliston, Comedian (London, 1857).
In author’s collection. 94
5. Spirit photographs of deceasedfamilymembers
alongside Georgiana Houghton. Source:Miss
[Georgiana] Houghton,Chronicles of the Photographs
of Spiritual Beings and Phenomena Invisibleto the
Material Eye:Interblended with Personal Narrative
(London, 1882). Courtesyof the UniversityLibrary,
Cambridge. 225
6. Mrs Shawand Mrs Coates’ Daughter, Agnes
Tweedale Simpson.Source:JamesCoates,Photographing
the Invisible: Practical Studies in Spirit Photography, Spirit
Portraiture,andOther Rare but Allied Phenomena
(London andChicago, 1911).# the British Library
Board.Shelfmark 08637.i.38. 226
vii
Acknowledgements
I wish to acknowledge the support and funding I received from the
HumanitiesInstitute of Ireland: as an HII doctoral scholar, researching
the PhD thesis from which this book came functioned as merely one
element in a broader academic and social environment that was always
stimulating and a pleasure to be a part of. I would therefore like to
extendmythankstoDrMarcCaball,ProfessorAnneFuchsandValerie
Norton.IwouldliketothankmysupervisorDrDavidKerr,myinternal
supervisorDrJudithDevlin,andmyexternalsupervisorProfessorRoger
Luckhurst for offering interesting angles, problems and perspectives
which influenced my research. The support of the staff in the School
of History and Archives during my postgraduate years has always been
appreciated: I would like especially to thank Kate Breslin, Professor
HowardClarke,DrDeclanDowney,DrElvaJohnston,DrSueSchulze
and Eiriol Townsend. For assistance in attending conferences in 2006,
IwishtoacknowledgethetravelgrantprovidedbytheSchoolofHistory
and Archives and the graduate student travel grant provided by the
Collegeof Arts andCeltic Studies.
The staff and curators at the libraries I attended over the years have
been very helpful. I wouldliketo thank the staff of: the British Library,
London; the National Library of Ireland, Dublin; the Society for
Psychical Research, London; the College of Psychic Studies, London;
the Harry Price Library at Senate House, London; the Wellcome
Institute, London; the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge; the
University Library, Cambridge; Trinity College, Dublin (especially the
staff at the Early Printed Books Department); the James Joyce Library,
UniversityCollegeDublin(especiallyAvrilPattersonattheinter-library
loandesk whowentoutof herwaytosourcesomeof themoreunusual
booksIrequested).IwishtothanktheanonymousreadersatCambridge
UniversityPressforofferingsuchfruitfulcriticismofmyoriginalmanu-
script. Thanks are also due to Michael Watson, Helen Waterhouse and
Joanna Garbutt at the Press, and Rebecca du Plessis, for expertly
guiding me through the editingprocess.
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