In Frederick Hockley's ms. 'A Work of Angels & Spirits which have appeared in my mirror and cristals' in the LOC collection there is, as you may already be aware, a pencil drawing inserted in the last page (page 411 in the pdf) ,created one suspects by Emma Louise Leigh, of the Crowned Angel. Perhaps the very drawing that Charlotte Lea was importuning FH to give to her? Looks like he kept it for himself.
In any case FH's words that ELL 'could not possibly have understood' the content of the visions coming through during the 'Mirror Evenings seems unlikely indeed, without in any way diminishing her unique faculties of seership and symbolic vision into the Mundus Imaginalis.
Wow, what a find! I’m persuaded by your interpretation. Hockley must not have fully trusted the Leas. Quite a lovely drawing, rather androgynous, as I suppose befits an angel. One can see why FH would take Emma’s ignorance as an article of faith and impress the point on others. He must also have known that was not the whole story. Thanks for bringing to light another piece in this fascinating puzzle
Sorry Alan, it's the Library of Congress collection, volume 13 of the Crystal Journals dated May 4th, at Limehouse with Charlotte Lea as 'speculatrix' (section 10647). I'm reading the transcript, so please check against the written manuscript journal. There appears to be some lines in a highly abbreviated shorthand which read:
Ths ws a rsn whn th CA. xprssd a wsh fr y nt to st in hr
r--m s- mch thr was a f--ling grwng up wthn hr twrds yrslf nd
wshng t mght nd in th sm rslts as it dd wth a nghbr of yrs
I thnk y cn it is a pty bt it mst b avdd
Which I read as:
'There was a reason when the CA expressed a wish for you not to sit in her room so much. There was a feeling growing up within her towards yourself and wishing it might not end in the same results as it did with a neighbour of yours....it is a pity but it must be avoided'
Sorry about the imprecision in my original entry, I only happened upon this entry during poring over the volume transcripts late last night!
Nigel, this is amazing stuff, thank you so much for directing me to this material. I did not more than glance at the Crystal mss online because I already had more than enough to talk about in the way of spirit communications from the passages that had been published, and I did not suspect the mss would contain revelations of a personal nature.
It had also not occurred to me that the sessions with Mrs Lea might have started before October 5, 1858, the date of the first entry in the E.L.L. ms published by Weiser that I quote in the post (which is a couple weeks after Emma's death on September 24).
But it makes sense that they should have started long before that, after Emma got too ill to work with Hockley (as early as March 16, I see). In the June 15 entry (at 10720), Hockley explains to "Capt. Anderson" that Emma has been "confined to her room [for] 14 weeks and has gone to the seaside.... The Doctor but faintly hopes for her safety."
I wonder what you make of another cryptic passage in the May 4 entry at 10649. The LOC transcription is:
It was Your GS. wish that I should
mention this to you for he could not -
possibly give you this through your Seer
bt sh hs son a how tht sh wll smn sngl + cm to
that. H wshs y to b vry grdd in 4 yr ctrs hrts
hr bt y hr bght it m yrslf m a gt mor
With reference to the handwritten ms, I get:
But she has .... come to
that. He wishes you to be very guarded in all your actions[,] hurts
her but you have brought it on yourself in a great....
Can't quite decipher it but, conjecturally, something about Emma soon having to know she will remain single, admonishing FH to be guarded in interactions with her, about his attentions hurting her and blaming him for having brought the problematic situation on himself?
Another mystery is Selina, Emma's companion, who sometimes joins in the Crystal sessions and who FH notes is desirous of seeing an image of her future spouse in the mirror - a staple of folk and Victorian popular magic.
Yes, very good. "Remain single" is the phrase I could not get. Though the precise implications elude me. It seems it has come out, or at least Charlotte Lea is assuming, that Emma has feelings for Hockley and that he is therefore liable to upset her and must be careful. His marrying her is presumed to be out of the question. But why must she "remain single" and not marry someone else, unless there is no hope of her recovery at this point?
Have you found other places besides these two spots where words have been condensed for what appear to be reasons of privacy? I am tempted when I have a chance to go through the transcript systematically and seek out similar passages.
I can answer your question about Selina. She is Emma's sister, older than her by five years. In the later manuscript, there is talk of a possible match between her and a younger friend of Hockley's, Arthur Augustus Richards, with whom he stayed in the aftermath of his wife's suicide. But "Emma" in the session does not think she is right for him, and in fact no such marriage took place.
I haven't as yet found any other cryptic abbreviated code passages Alan, but the details in these Crystal journals are of exceptional interest...for example Hockley, Emma and Selina go out to spend the evening at the Lyceum theatre on 7th April 1853 where they are secretly observed by Captain Anderson who is also present unbeknown. In a subsequent Action he describes how the 2 sisters were dressed and how FH 'munched on oranges all evening'!
On another note I do wonder about the use of opium/laudanum and how it might factor into these crystallomantic Actions, used as commonly and casually as aspirin in the mid Victorian period, and considering young Emma's delicate health, the many refs. to her frequent 'coughs', headaches' 'colds', toothache' etc. In Clavis Arcana Magica there's a spell for entering the visionary sleep of the 'Spirit State' using a lead talisman inscribed with spirit names and having drunk a glass of wine to which have been added 2 drops of opium, 2 drops of cinnamon oil etc. Also in the catalogue of FH's library there's a tractate In Defense of Opium Smoking, described as a refutation of the 'brigade of anti-opium agitators'. In the light of the fate of Herbert Irwin, there seems to be a subtle opiate aroma of laudanum tincture pervading these adventures.
That does sound very interesting. I’ll have to read through the journals at some point
Yes, when I wrote about Herbert Irwin I did think back and wonder about Emma’s drug use and its effect on her well-being. As you say, Hockley is clearly interested in the subject. There are a couple of passages in the letters to Irwin where he repeatedly asks about the formulation of a particular herbal preparation. So thanks for these points. I hope you’ll continue to share your thoughts and findings with me
Certainly, Alan. The Crystal Journals are an immense mass of material to sift through and mine, a trove of exceptional interest, from historical, human and esoteric perspectives.
I agree with your thesis of Emma Louise Leigh as a precocious virtuoso - as speculatrix her magical-creative faculties of imaginal vision were unique and prodigious. Her drawings would be interesting to see too.
My pleasure, Alan. With my curiosity piqued after reading your article last night I began to pore over and sift through the transcripts of the Crystal journal and, as if guided by the invisible hand of my G.S or some other benign being, I happened upon these curious abbreviated passages. They are very interesting, I agree!
In the Crystal journals for 1858-9 in the Wellcome, after Emma's death with Charlotte Lea as medium the message came through her for Hockley that the C.A had formerly asked that he not spend so much time sitting with Emma in her room because the young lady had developed feelings for him and that this might result in the same situation as had occured with his neighbour, presumably another tenant of her father. This suggests some kind of previous indiscretion.
How fascinating. Would you happen to have a more exact reference? The online catalogue of the Wellcome seems to list only two Hockey mss, one from 1829 and one from 1868. In any case, thanks for reading!
A fascinating article! Among other more consequential matters, I'm left wondering about the extent of Harry Houdini's library at the time of his death.
Do you happen to have anything more on John Denley (1764–1842) please?
I have the following: 'was a London bookseller and publisher specialising in occult books and manuscripts. Sale catalogues indicate that he had premises first at 10, Gate Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields; then at 13, Catherine Street, on the Strand; and afterwards at 24 Brydges Street, Covent Garden. His stock included Ebenezer Sibly’s ‘curious occult manuscripts’. In Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s occult novel Zanoni (1842), Denley’s shop is alluded to as once having being ‘one of my favourite haunts’. Denley was also associated with Francis Barrett, author of The Magus (1801), to whom he lent a number of texts and whose original manuscript together with the copper plates and wood blocks he subsequently offered for sale'.
I ask because Denley owned a copy of a work by TheaurauJohn Tany with the following annotation: ‘This most curious Book wants the 1st part – I have had this by me above 20 years without meeting with the 1st. It is so extremely rare that when perfect, a copy is supposed to be worth about £30 - / John Denley'
Thanks! On Denley, that is about all I know. The passage in Zanoni is amusing. There was a dispute with Barrett over the making of the Magus, email me if that’s of interest. You can find Denley catalogues online (Google Books, Internet Archive). According to Ronald Hutton, some papers are extant, with a reference to the Harry Rice Collection at University of London
In Frederick Hockley's ms. 'A Work of Angels & Spirits which have appeared in my mirror and cristals' in the LOC collection there is, as you may already be aware, a pencil drawing inserted in the last page (page 411 in the pdf) ,created one suspects by Emma Louise Leigh, of the Crowned Angel. Perhaps the very drawing that Charlotte Lea was importuning FH to give to her? Looks like he kept it for himself.
In any case FH's words that ELL 'could not possibly have understood' the content of the visions coming through during the 'Mirror Evenings seems unlikely indeed, without in any way diminishing her unique faculties of seership and symbolic vision into the Mundus Imaginalis.
Wow, what a find! I’m persuaded by your interpretation. Hockley must not have fully trusted the Leas. Quite a lovely drawing, rather androgynous, as I suppose befits an angel. One can see why FH would take Emma’s ignorance as an article of faith and impress the point on others. He must also have known that was not the whole story. Thanks for bringing to light another piece in this fascinating puzzle
This entry in the transcript of Vol 13 is dated May 4th 1858.
Sorry Alan, it's the Library of Congress collection, volume 13 of the Crystal Journals dated May 4th, at Limehouse with Charlotte Lea as 'speculatrix' (section 10647). I'm reading the transcript, so please check against the written manuscript journal. There appears to be some lines in a highly abbreviated shorthand which read:
Ths ws a rsn whn th CA. xprssd a wsh fr y nt to st in hr
r--m s- mch thr was a f--ling grwng up wthn hr twrds yrslf nd
wshng t mght nd in th sm rslts as it dd wth a nghbr of yrs
I thnk y cn it is a pty bt it mst b avdd
Which I read as:
'There was a reason when the CA expressed a wish for you not to sit in her room so much. There was a feeling growing up within her towards yourself and wishing it might not end in the same results as it did with a neighbour of yours....it is a pity but it must be avoided'
Sorry about the imprecision in my original entry, I only happened upon this entry during poring over the volume transcripts late last night!
That’s incredible. Thanks again
Nigel, this is amazing stuff, thank you so much for directing me to this material. I did not more than glance at the Crystal mss online because I already had more than enough to talk about in the way of spirit communications from the passages that had been published, and I did not suspect the mss would contain revelations of a personal nature.
It had also not occurred to me that the sessions with Mrs Lea might have started before October 5, 1858, the date of the first entry in the E.L.L. ms published by Weiser that I quote in the post (which is a couple weeks after Emma's death on September 24).
But it makes sense that they should have started long before that, after Emma got too ill to work with Hockley (as early as March 16, I see). In the June 15 entry (at 10720), Hockley explains to "Capt. Anderson" that Emma has been "confined to her room [for] 14 weeks and has gone to the seaside.... The Doctor but faintly hopes for her safety."
I wonder what you make of another cryptic passage in the May 4 entry at 10649. The LOC transcription is:
It was Your GS. wish that I should
mention this to you for he could not -
possibly give you this through your Seer
bt sh hs son a how tht sh wll smn sngl + cm to
that. H wshs y to b vry grdd in 4 yr ctrs hrts
hr bt y hr bght it m yrslf m a gt mor
With reference to the handwritten ms, I get:
But she has .... come to
that. He wishes you to be very guarded in all your actions[,] hurts
her but you have brought it on yourself in a great....
Can't quite decipher it but, conjecturally, something about Emma soon having to know she will remain single, admonishing FH to be guarded in interactions with her, about his attentions hurting her and blaming him for having brought the problematic situation on himself?
Another mystery is Selina, Emma's companion, who sometimes joins in the Crystal sessions and who FH notes is desirous of seeing an image of her future spouse in the mirror - a staple of folk and Victorian popular magic.
Yes, very good. "Remain single" is the phrase I could not get. Though the precise implications elude me. It seems it has come out, or at least Charlotte Lea is assuming, that Emma has feelings for Hockley and that he is therefore liable to upset her and must be careful. His marrying her is presumed to be out of the question. But why must she "remain single" and not marry someone else, unless there is no hope of her recovery at this point?
Have you found other places besides these two spots where words have been condensed for what appear to be reasons of privacy? I am tempted when I have a chance to go through the transcript systematically and seek out similar passages.
I can answer your question about Selina. She is Emma's sister, older than her by five years. In the later manuscript, there is talk of a possible match between her and a younger friend of Hockley's, Arthur Augustus Richards, with whom he stayed in the aftermath of his wife's suicide. But "Emma" in the session does not think she is right for him, and in fact no such marriage took place.
I haven't as yet found any other cryptic abbreviated code passages Alan, but the details in these Crystal journals are of exceptional interest...for example Hockley, Emma and Selina go out to spend the evening at the Lyceum theatre on 7th April 1853 where they are secretly observed by Captain Anderson who is also present unbeknown. In a subsequent Action he describes how the 2 sisters were dressed and how FH 'munched on oranges all evening'!
On another note I do wonder about the use of opium/laudanum and how it might factor into these crystallomantic Actions, used as commonly and casually as aspirin in the mid Victorian period, and considering young Emma's delicate health, the many refs. to her frequent 'coughs', headaches' 'colds', toothache' etc. In Clavis Arcana Magica there's a spell for entering the visionary sleep of the 'Spirit State' using a lead talisman inscribed with spirit names and having drunk a glass of wine to which have been added 2 drops of opium, 2 drops of cinnamon oil etc. Also in the catalogue of FH's library there's a tractate In Defense of Opium Smoking, described as a refutation of the 'brigade of anti-opium agitators'. In the light of the fate of Herbert Irwin, there seems to be a subtle opiate aroma of laudanum tincture pervading these adventures.
That does sound very interesting. I’ll have to read through the journals at some point
Yes, when I wrote about Herbert Irwin I did think back and wonder about Emma’s drug use and its effect on her well-being. As you say, Hockley is clearly interested in the subject. There are a couple of passages in the letters to Irwin where he repeatedly asks about the formulation of a particular herbal preparation. So thanks for these points. I hope you’ll continue to share your thoughts and findings with me
Certainly, Alan. The Crystal Journals are an immense mass of material to sift through and mine, a trove of exceptional interest, from historical, human and esoteric perspectives.
I agree with your thesis of Emma Louise Leigh as a precocious virtuoso - as speculatrix her magical-creative faculties of imaginal vision were unique and prodigious. Her drawings would be interesting to see too.
My pleasure, Alan. With my curiosity piqued after reading your article last night I began to pore over and sift through the transcripts of the Crystal journal and, as if guided by the invisible hand of my G.S or some other benign being, I happened upon these curious abbreviated passages. They are very interesting, I agree!
In the Crystal journals for 1858-9 in the Wellcome, after Emma's death with Charlotte Lea as medium the message came through her for Hockley that the C.A had formerly asked that he not spend so much time sitting with Emma in her room because the young lady had developed feelings for him and that this might result in the same situation as had occured with his neighbour, presumably another tenant of her father. This suggests some kind of previous indiscretion.
How fascinating. Would you happen to have a more exact reference? The online catalogue of the Wellcome seems to list only two Hockey mss, one from 1829 and one from 1868. In any case, thanks for reading!
A fascinating article! Among other more consequential matters, I'm left wondering about the extent of Harry Houdini's library at the time of his death.
Very interesting and informative. Thank you.
Do you happen to have anything more on John Denley (1764–1842) please?
I have the following: 'was a London bookseller and publisher specialising in occult books and manuscripts. Sale catalogues indicate that he had premises first at 10, Gate Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields; then at 13, Catherine Street, on the Strand; and afterwards at 24 Brydges Street, Covent Garden. His stock included Ebenezer Sibly’s ‘curious occult manuscripts’. In Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s occult novel Zanoni (1842), Denley’s shop is alluded to as once having being ‘one of my favourite haunts’. Denley was also associated with Francis Barrett, author of The Magus (1801), to whom he lent a number of texts and whose original manuscript together with the copper plates and wood blocks he subsequently offered for sale'.
I ask because Denley owned a copy of a work by TheaurauJohn Tany with the following annotation: ‘This most curious Book wants the 1st part – I have had this by me above 20 years without meeting with the 1st. It is so extremely rare that when perfect, a copy is supposed to be worth about £30 - / John Denley'
Thanks! On Denley, that is about all I know. The passage in Zanoni is amusing. There was a dispute with Barrett over the making of the Magus, email me if that’s of interest. You can find Denley catalogues online (Google Books, Internet Archive). According to Ronald Hutton, some papers are extant, with a reference to the Harry Rice Collection at University of London
The dispute with Barrett sounds interesting; thanks.
The catalogues I'll chase.