Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World

A comprehensive investigation of spiritualism, published in 1860 by a Scottish-born former member of the US House of Representatives.

Robert Dale Owen (Author)

9781108027427, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 May 2011

422 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.4 cm, 0.53 kg

Robert Dale Owen (1801–1877) was born in Scotland and emigrated to the United States in 1825 to help his social reformer father Robert Owen set up an experimental community in New Harmony, Indiana. He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1842, and appointed US minister at Naples in 1853. In addition to his political career, Owen was a follower of spiritualism. In Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World, published in 1860, he draws from his own observations of supernatural phenomena as well as published research in fields such as psychology. Owen's comprehensive study addresses six thematic areas. He starts by comparing attempts to navigate uncharted spiritual waters to Christopher Columbus' voyages of discovery, and then moves on to examine themes such as dreams, disturbances and apparitions.

Author's advertisement to the English edition
Preface to the American edition
List of authors cited
Book I. Preliminary: 1. Statement of the subject
2. The impossible
3. The miraculous
4. The improbable
Book II. Touching Certain Phases of Sleep: 1. Sleep in general
2. Dreams
Book III. Of Disturbances Popularly Termed Hauntings: 1. General character of the phenomena
2. Narratives
3. Summing up
Book IV. Of Appearances Commonly Called Apparitions: 1. Touching hallucination
2. Apparitions of the living
3. Apparitions of the dead
Book V. Indications of Personal Interferences: 1. Retribution
2. Guardianship
Book VI. The Suggested Results: 1. The change at death
2. Conclusion
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX]