THE CASE FOR
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
On the Life Hereafter
- THE NEW REVELATION
- THE VITAL MESSAGE
- THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES
- THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
- THE WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST
- OUR AMERICAN ADVENTURE
A History of the Great War
- THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS—5 Vols.
Poems
- THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH
Novels and Stories
- DANGER! And Other Stories
- THE DOINGS OF RAFFLES HAW
- HIS LAST BOW
Some Latin Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes
NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
THE CASE FOR
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
WITH CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE BY
EXPERIENCED RESEARCHERS
AND PHOTOGRAPHERS
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1923,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY. I
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE
The publicity given to the recent attacks on Psychic Photography has been out of all proportion to their scientific value as evidence. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle returned to Great Britain, after his successful tour in America, the controversy was in full swing. With characteristic promptitude he immediately decided to meet these negative attacks by a positive counter-attack, and this volume is the outcome of that decision.
We have used the term “Spirit Photography” on the title-page as being the popular name by which these phenomena are known. This does not imply that either Sir Arthur or I imagine that everything supernormal must be of spirit origin. There is, undoubtedly, a broad borderland where these photographic effects may be produced from forces contained within ourselves. This merges into those higher phenomena of which many cases are here described. Those desiring fuller information on this subject are referred to “Photographing the Invisible,” by James Coates.
It was only when editing the matter for these pages that I fully realised what an overwhelming mass of reliable material we had to work upon. In restricting this book to the necessary limits it has only been possible to make use of a small portion of this evidence. Many more cases have been placed on record and may be published on some future occasion. Most of the letters accompanying these descriptions display a deep and genuine affection for the maligned mediums of the Crewe Circle. Our hearty thanks are due to all those friends who have so readily co-operated in this work and who are so willing to brave the discomforts of publicity for what they know to be the truth.
Fred Barlow.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| Preface by Fred Barlow | [v] | |
| CHAPTER | ||
| I | THE CREWE CIRCLE | [13] |
| II | SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES | [21] |
| III | EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS | [28] |
| IV | AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE AND HIS CRITICS | [38] |
| V | FURTHER DIFFICULTIES CONSIDERED | [55] |
| VI | THE ATTACK ON MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE | [60] |
| VII | THE GENESIS AND HISTORY OF THE CREWE CIRCLE BY MISS F. R. SCATCHERD | [70] |
| VIII | EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF PSYCHIC PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRED BARLOW | [79] |
| IX | CONCLUSIVE PROOF FROM MANY SOURCES | [96] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| Barlow, Mr. H. D., Psychic and Normal Photographs of | [127] |
| Burgess, Mrs., with Psychic Picture of Her Uncle | [127] |
| Buxton, Mrs., and Daughter, with Psychic Picture of Her Father | [47] |
| Colley, Archdeacon, Psychic Message in the Handwriting of | [14] |
| Colley, Archdeacon, Normal Handwriting of | [14] |
| Colley, Archdeacon, Photomicrograph of Portion of Normal Signature | [78] |
| Colley, Archdeacon, Photomicrograph of Portion of Signature in Psychic Message | [78] |
| Crawford, Dr. W. J., Psychic Message in the Handwriting of | [15] |
| Crawford, Dr. W. J., Normal Handwriting of | [15] |
| Crookes, Sir William, with Psychic Face | [31] |
| Cushman, Agnes, Psychic Picture of | [63] |
| Cushman, Agnes, Normal Photograph of | [63] |
| Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, and Group, with Psychic Message from Archdeacon Colley | [14] |
| East, Mr. and Mrs. H., with Psychic and Normal Pictures of Son | [47] |
| Foulds, Mrs. R., with Psychic Photograph of Her Mother | [110] |
| Foulds, Mrs. R., Normal Photograph of the Mother of | [110] |
| Griere, Mrs. A. E., with Psychic Likeness of Husband and Father | [111] |
| Griere, Mrs. A. E., Photograph of the Husband of | [111] |
| Jeffrey, Mr. Wm., and Daughter, Showing Ectoplasmic Bag | [62] |
| Jeffrey, Mr. Wm., and Daughter, with Psychic Likeness of Mrs. Jeffrey | [62] |
| Maddocks, Mr. S., with Psychic Likeness of First Wife | [95] |
| Maddocks, Mr. S., Normal Photograph of the First Wife of | [95] |
| Pickup, Mrs., with Psychic Likeness of Husband | [126] |
| Pickup, Mrs., Photograph of the Husband of | [126] |
| S.S.S.P., Group Photograph with Psychic Face | [30] |
| Spencer, Major R. E. E., with Psychic Face | [31] |
| Tweedale, the Rev. C. L., and Wife, with Psychic Likeness of Mrs. Tweedale’s Father | [46] |
| Tweedale, the Rev. C. L., Photograph of the Father-in-law of | [46] |
| Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Harry, and Friends, with Psychic Likeness of Mr. Wm. Walker | [79] |
| Walker, Mr. Wm., with Psychic Message in Handwriting of Mr. W. T. Stead | [79] |
| Walker, Mr. Wm., Psychic Message in Handwriting of | [94] |
| Walker, Mr. Wm., Specimen of Handwriting of | [94] |