Modern Magic

Schele de Vere, M. (Maximilian), 1820-1898Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 701K words
Chapters: 71

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Modern Magic by M. Schele de VereAuthor: Schele de Vere, M. (Maximilian), 1820-1898,Language: English, Class: BF: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Psychology, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Release Date: Dec 30, 2011

Editor's review

This is nineteenth-century American scholar Maximilian Schele de Vere's work on "modern magic," belonging to the categories of philosophy and psychology rather than being a mere manual for exposing magical tricks. From a scholar's perspective, the author surveys the various cases regarded as wondrous phenomena at the time, examining them within the frameworks of psychology, philosophy, and religion, reflecting how nineteenth-century intellectuals understood supernatural phenomena, hypnotic suggestion, and psychic powers. Its value lies not in offering practicable magic techniques but in serving as a source for intellectual history, helping readers understand how people explained anomalous psychological phenomena before the formation of modern psychology. The prose carries the speculative tone of nineteenth-century academic essays; examples are abundant, though the mode of argumentation is remote from contemporary scientific norms. It is suitable for readers interested in the history of occultism, the history of psychology, and nineteenth-century intellectual history as historical source material, rather than as a collection of ghost stories or a magic tutorial. The free public-domain electronic edition facilitates searching and comparative reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers interested in the history of nineteenth-century psychology and supernatural ideas
Readers who wish to understand explanatory frameworks before the formation of modern scientific psychology
Enthusiasts collecting primary documents on occultism and psychical research
Upper-level students accustomed to reading English public-domain scholarly works

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting to learn modern magic performance techniques or methods of exposure
Those seeking light ghost stories and sensational reading experiences
Beginners lacking patience for nineteenth-century English speculative prose

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and introduction first to grasp the author's problematic and classificatory framework before entering specific chapters
Annotate the types of examples the author uses while reading, distinguishing observational records from theoretical inference
Read in conjunction with materials on the history of psychology or the psychical research movement to avoid isolated interpretation
Take notes on unfamiliar names and terms first, then verify them collectively after finishing a chapter

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a guide to performing magic tricks?

No. "Magic" in the title refers to phenomena regarded as wondrous or extraordinary at the time; the author discusses from philosophical and psychological perspectives how these phenomena were explained, rather than teaching stage magic techniques or exposing magical tricks.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

Basic English reading ability suffices, but familiarity with the general background of nineteenth-century psychology, spiritualism, and the psychical research movement will make it easier to grasp the author's line of argument and the limitations of the era.

Do the views in this book still hold today?

Many of the explanatory frameworks in the book have been superseded by modern psychology and scientific methods; its value lies mainly at the level of intellectual history and historical source material. Readers should treat it as a document for understanding nineteenth-century modes of cognition rather than as contemporary scientific conclusions.

What should be noted when reading the electronic edition?

This is a public-domain e-book; typesetting and proofreading quality vary by edition. It is advisable to choose a clearly annotated edition, remain alert to obvious OCR errors, and verify important quotations against other editions.

Comments

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About the author

Schele de Vere, M. (Maximilian), 1820-1898 Author · Swedish-American · 1820–1898

M. Schele de Vere (1820–1898) was a Swedish-American linguist and longtime professor at the University of Virginia, whose interests spanned language, folklore, and comparative literature. Public information about his early life and education is limited, and the surviving record centers mainly on his teaching post and scholarly interests. Among the works held in this catalog is Modern Magic, a book concerned with magic, illusion, and related folk beliefs. Written with the breadth and curiosity of a nineteenth-century scholar, it reflects both his attention to popular belief and unusual knowledge and his linguist's habit of examining terms and ideas. On the whole, he belongs to the tradition of nineteenth-century American academic scholars who combined language study with folklore and comparative literature, and his work offers some insight into the period's scholarly interest in magic and the supernatural.