Crabtree, Adam. Animal magnetism, early hypnotism and psychical research, — Bibliographies in the history of psychology and psychiatry Includes indexes. Animal magnetism—Bibliography. Psychical research—Bibliography. A54C73 [BF] Up to the time of its publication there was no annotated bibliography of the principal works in these interconnected fields, and the historical importance of mesmerism and its offshoots was largely unrecognized.
Since the awareness of the significance of these works for the history of psychiatry, psychology, psychical research, and hypnotism has greatly increased. This bibliography's extreme scarcity in the book market makes this online version an extremely valuable resource for anyone interested in these fields. Animal magnetism is little known today. Most historical scholars would probably be hard pressed to write more than a brief paragraph about Franz Anton Mesmer — and his discovery.
Yet, for approximately seventy-five years from its beginnings in , animal magnetism flourished as a medical and psychological specialty, and for another fifty years it continued to be a system of some influence. When one examines the history of animal magnetism and its offshoots, it seems incredible that this once powerful system is now almost completely forgotten.
That animal magnetism is no longer practiced is hardly surprising. The theory of animal magnetism in its original form would be difficult for most moderns to accept.
What is puzzling is that the story of animal magnetism is so neglected. Animal magnetism is not comparable to certain medical fads which flourished for a time and then died out. Such crazes did not significantly shape medical or psychological theory and practice, nor did they significantly affect the evolution of those disciplines. Animal magnetism, on the other hand, had a profound impact on medicine, psychology, and psychical research today called parapsychology , as a brief examination of its history will show.
