Review:A Full Report of a Lecture on Spiritualism/Christopher Roden
This review of the booklet "A Full Report of a Lecture on Spiritualism" was written by Christopher Roden and published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 7, 1996/7).
This review discusses the reprint of A Full Report of a Lecture on Spiritualism, a previously unrecorded 1919 lecture by Arthur Conan Doyle discovered in the Worthing Gazette. It highlights the historical importance of the find and Richard Lancelyn Green’s detailed afterword contextualising Conan Doyle’s Spiritualist tour and beliefs.
Review
- A Full Report of a Lecture on Spiritualism
- Delivered by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- at the Connaught Hall, Worthing
- on Friday, July 11th, 1919.
- With an Afterword by Richard Lancelyn Green
- Cambridge: Rupert Books, 1997; Rupert Books Monograph Series No. 1; 18pp; Card Covers; £10.00; ISBN: 0-9530869-0-9
Reviewed by Christopher Roden
One might have thought that, by now, everything Conan Doyle produced, and on which his name appeared, would have been catalogued, examined, written about, and fairly widely known. But the world, it seems, always has surprises in store for us where Conan Doyle bibliography is concerned.
Such a surprise awaited R. Dixon Smith of Rupert Books when he was scouting for stock at a book fair. The surprise was in the form of a faded pamphlet bearing the name of Arthur Conan Doyle. Published by the Worthing Gazette, the pamphlet contained a report of a lecture on Spiritualism given by ACD in Worthing in July 1919. It was unknown-unrecorded in Conan Doyle bibliographies and not held by any of the copyright libraries in the U.K., or known to exist in any private collections. Quite a find, in fact!
A Full Report of a Lecture on Spiritualism has now been reprinted by Rupert Books as the first in their new Monograph Series, and it is a welcome addition to the growing literature on ACD.
Richard Lancelyn Green has provided an incredibly detailed Afterword, which tells us, amongst many other things, that this particular lecture was the third leg of a short tour taking in three Sussex coastal towns. We learn that ACD was introduced to the meeting by the Mayor of Worthing, Alderman J. Farquharson Whyte, that Israel Zangwill proposed the vote of thanks, and that the meeting made a profit (after expenses of £10. 6s.) of £5.5s., which was donated to the Worthing Hospital.
As to the lecture itself, ACD talks about why he came to believe in Spiritualism; his early experiments; the people who influenced him; and many other matters relating to his belief. He talks of ethereal bodies, Spiritualistic literature, the state of those on the other side, and psychic researchers-all matters vital to an understanding of his Spiritualistic development and belief.
A Full Report of a Lecture on Spiritualism is an important find, and has been made available in a particularly attractive format. We should think ourselves fortunate that Mr Smith decided to venture out to that particular book fair earlier this year!
Christopher Roden
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
