Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism

What It's About

Published in 1903, this is a compact but wide-ranging introduction to hypnotism and the related phenomena that fascinated the late Victorian and Edwardian public. Alpheus traces the history of hypnotic practice from ancient ritual through Franz Anton Mesmer's magnetic theories and James Braid's more scientific reformulation, before moving into practical territory: how hypnosis is induced, what its stages feel like, and how self-hypnosis can be practised. The book also ventures into telepathy, clairvoyance, and spiritualism, treating these subjects with a degree of scepticism that distinguishes it from the more credulous popular literature of the period. Throughout, the author insists on clear thinking and caution, making it as much a guide to avoiding credulity as to understanding the phenomena themselves.

About the Author

Very little is known about A. Alpheus beyond the pen name. The author appears to have been an American popular science writer working in the early twentieth century, producing accessible treatments of psychological and occult subjects for a general readership.