2019 Reprint of 1948 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer [1734-1815] was a German doctor who theorized the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; what he called animal magnetism, later also referred to as mesmerism. Mesmer's theory attracted a wide following between about 1780 and 1850 and continued to have some influence thereafter. 1843 the Scottish doctor James Braid proposed the term hypnosis for a technique derived from animal magnetism; today the word "mesmerism" generally functions as a synonym of "hypnosis". This publication is a reprint of the first English translation in 1948 of Mesmer's historic Memoire sur la Decouverte du Magnetisme Animal to appear in English. It was originally published in French in 1779.

From the 1830s to the Civil War, Americans could be found putting each other into trances for fun and profit in parlors, on stage, and in medical consulting rooms. They were performing mesmerism. Surprisingly central to literature and culture of the period, mesmerism embraced a variety of phenomena, including mind control, spirit travel, and clairvoyance. Although it had been debunked by Benjamin Franklin in late eighteenth-century France, the practice nonetheless enjoyed a decades-long resurgence in the United States. Emily Ogden here offers the first comprehensive account of those boom years. Credulity tells the fascinating story of mesmerism’s spread from the plantations of the French Antilles to the textile factory cities of 1830s New England. As it proliferated along the Eastern seaboard, this occult movement attracted attention from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s circle and ignited the nineteenth-century equivalent of flame wars in the major newspapers. But mesmerism was not simply the last gasp of magic in modern times. Far from being magicians themselves, mesmerists claimed to provide the first rational means of manipulating the credulous human tendencies that had underwritten past superstitions. Now, rather than propping up the powers of oracles and false gods, these tendencies served modern ends such as labor supervision, education, and mediated communication. Neither an atavistic throwback nor a radical alternative, mesmerism was part and parcel of the modern. Credulity offers us a new way of understanding the place of enchantment in secularizing America.

A complete biography of Franz Anton Mesmer, including his theory and practice, his influence, and his stormy professional and personal relationships. A source book of 18th century medical history. Fully annotated and indexed.

Early in 1788, Franz Anton Mesmer arrived in Paris and began to promulgate an exotic theory of healing that almost immediately seized the imagination of the general populace. Robert Darnton's lively study provides a useful contribution to the study of popular culture and the manner in which ideas are diffused down through various social levels.

Focuses on the entire range of philosophic and social changes engendered by the Enlightenment. The Encyclopedia extends the conventional geographical boundaries of the Enlightenment, covering not only France, England, Scotland, the Low Countries, Italy, English-speaking North America, the German states, and Hapsburg Austria but also Iberian, Ibero-American, Jewish, Russian, and Eastern European cultures. Designed and organized for ease of use, its special features include more than 700 signed articles; annotated bibliographies following each article to guide further study; an extensive system of cross-references; a synoptic outline of contents; a comprehensive topical index providing easy access to networks of related articles; and high quality illustrations, including photographs, line drawings, and maps.

The discovery of magnetic sleep--an artificially induced trancelike state--in 1784 marked the beginning of the modern era of psychological healing. Magnetic sleep revealed a realm of mental activity that was not available to the conscious mind but could affect conscious thought and action. Psychotherapist Crabtree (Centre for Training in Psychotherapy, Toronto) tells the story of the discovery of magnetic sleep and its relationship to psychotherapy. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR