Description
Pepper, William, et Al. Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed By the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism in Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert. (J. B. Lippencott Company: Philadelphia: 1887)
Octavo. 160 pages. Blue-cloth covered boards stamped in gilt “The Seybert Commission on Spiritualism” on both spine and front boards. Endpapers are brown paper. Several diagrams scattered throughout the text.
Condition: Light wear on corners and ends of spine, 1 1/2 inch tear to page 159-160. A few contemporary notes in the text. Title page has ownership markings of two previous owners (see photo) “W. C. Gill”, the Registrar of the City of London, Ontario, and the Rev. R. F. Taylor. Otherwise, VG. Looks better than photos. Curl of boards are an artifact of the lens. Spotting is enhanced by the lighting.
“An ardent believer in Spiritualism, Henry Seybert left in his will funds for the establishment of an endowed chair in Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. As a condition to this bequest, he required that the University set up a commission to investigate “all systems of Morals, Religion, or Philosophy which assume to represent the Truth, and particularly of Modern Spiritualism.” Ten men served on the commission, all of whom declared themselves at the outset to either be neutral or favorably disposed toward Spiritualism. Among the more notable members were the University Provost William Pepper (a physician), the paleontologist Joseph Leidy, the Shakespearean scholar Horace Howard Furness (who served as the chairman), and the physician and writer Silas Weir Mitchell. Also on the commission was George Augustus Koenig, a chemist.[2] A committed Spiritualist and close friend of Henry Seybert, Thomas Hazard, served as counselor, suggesting particular topics and mediums that should be investigated.
“The Commission published a report in 1887 entitled Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert, in which it expressed:
“…our regret that thus far we have not been cheered in our investigations by the discovery of a single novel fact; but, undeterred by this discouragement, we trust with your permission to continue them with what thoroughness our future opportunities may allow, and with minds as sincerely and honestly open, as heretofore, to conviction.”
The report was published by J.B. Lippincott, and angrily denounced by Spiritualists. There proved to be no sentiment for the Commission’s continued existence, and it quietly disbanded.” – Wikipedia
