The Thought Reader Craze: Victorian Science at the Enchanted Boundary

by Barry H. Wiley

Beginning in 1870, the hunger for scientific discovery in Great Britain drove prominent scientists, philosophers, and others to promote the legitimacy of telepathy. At the same time, mind-reading as a form of entertainment gained increasing popularity as persuasive performers like John Randall Brown, W. I. Bishop, and Stuart C. Cumberland convinced reporters that they truly could read the thoughts of others. The widely publicized, sometimes bizarre, interactions between scientists and these charlatans ushered in the Thought Reader Craze, a period that lasted through 1910 and saw entertainers make and lose fortunes and scientists make and lost reputations. This volume explores this unusual cultural phenomenon, showing how it endured through the years due to public scientific pronouncements, astonishing performances by the thought readers, and the rapidly changing industrial society.

Paperback

First published July 30, 2012

About the author

I am a retired high-tech executive, having done business in 24 countries most recently in Asia, primarily throughout China.
I have had three mystery short stories published with John Randall Brown, a retired high-tech executive turned professional mentalist. Think Thomas Crown as a fake psychic and a reluctant detective.
My biography of Anna Eva Fay, The Indescribable Phenomenon, was published by Hermetic Press in Seattle. Magician Harry Houdini called AEF, “The greatest female mystifier”; while detective Allan Pinkerton called her “... a woman possessing a terribly fascinating power and capable of any devilish human accomplishment.” They were both right.
I have lectured on the history of mentalism and spiritualism at several venues from the Magic Castle in Hollywood and the Magic Circle in London, to the annual Meeting of the Minds of the Psychic Entertainers Association. I am an Associate of the Inner Magic Circle in London, and a member of the Order of Merlin Sword of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
I have also written a number of non-fiction articles for magic and history magazines in America and Europe.

Reviews

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late 1800s saw a sudden interest in thought reading—men and women who claimed to have telepathic powers, as well as those who openly faked it (whether to expose the charlatans or as entertainment). This is interesting, but too focused for me on the thought readers themselves, rather than the wider reaction and interest in society, which I was hoping for. If you have more interest in the history of magic, you might give this a higher score.