It comes as a shock to some people that
the creator of Sherlock Holmes, that paragon of observation and not
theorizing before one has data, believed in fairies and spirit photography.
On the right is a heavily retouched photograph of Doyle
with spirit photographs from his collection.
The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the
University of Texas at Austin has an extensive archive of Doyle
material including his personal collection of spirit photographs.
During a visit to the HRC we were thrilled to see this wonderful
collection.
The Case for Spirit Photography, shown below
is one of our special treasures.
It has crossover interests to us since we collect Sherlock Holmes
material
and this
1925 defense of spirit photography by his
author is fascinating. After the death of his son, Doyle became a
true believer in spiritualism and in lectures and writings defended
many that seem obviously fraudulent. |
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The card photograph on the right of a "ghost" girl
sitting on the lap of a boy was likely made by a member of the Crewe
Circle. It bears the signature of Arthur Conan Doyle in heavy, black
ink. "Taken with one Exposure only." is printed on the card. The
signature indicates that Doyle witnessed the making of the photograph
and attests to its authenticity.
After Doyle's death in 1930 he often appeared as a
spirit in photographs such as the retouched detail on the lower
right.
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*Note:
In October 2007 this section of our site was expanded and rearranged.
If an image is not in an expected place, please try one of the
other pages from the list below.
Spirit Photographs: How
our collection started/Brewster & Mumler
Spirit Photographs: A
Tintype Spirit Photograph
Spirit Photographs: Carte-de-visite
spirit photographs
Spirit Photographs: Cabinet
card spirit photographs
Spirit Photographs: Post
card spirit photographs
Spirit Photographs: Post
cards of unknown mediums
Spirit Photographs: Doyle
and the Spirits < You
are Here
Spirit Photographs: How
to make a fake spirit photograph
Spirit Photography: Bibliography & Links
Related interests of the Victorian Era and early 20th century in our
collection:
Memento Mori -
Remembering the departed: post mortem and memorial photography in the
19th and early 20th century
Mesmerism - "Flint the Mesmerist"
Phrenology - The study of human personality
from the shape of the head
Return to The Collection of Collections page
Collection of Collections Site Map
Contact us at studio@brightbytes.com
**NOTE** All
items on the Collection of Collections web site are in
our private collection and are NOT for sale. From
time to time duplicate items from our collection will be offered for sale
in the Do You Remember This? shop
on the GoAntiques cyber mall. Visit the Do
You Remember This? inventory page for photographica and
toaster related collectibles.
Please feel free to write us if you want to chat or share information
about areas we collect but we will NOT give appraisals.
© Bright Bytes Studio - Do not use images without permission
Updated on 4/2011 |
