Glanvill, Joseph (1636-1680)

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Glanvill, Joseph (1636-1680)

Chaplain to Charles II, prebendary of Worcester, philosopher, and one of the earliest fellows of the Royal Society. An orthodox clergyman of the Anglican Church, Glanvill was a self-avowed skeptic and enemy of dogma. He was the author of several books, including Scepsis Scientifica (1665) and Sorcerers and Sorcery (1666). He is best remembered as a precursor of modern psychical researchers and the author of Sadicismus Triumphatus (1681), which contains accounts of remarkable cases of witchcraft and details of the author's personal investigation into the poltergeist known as the Drummer of Tedworth.

Sources:

Glanvill, Joseph. Sadicismus Triumphatus. London: Printed for J. Collins and S. Lownds, 1681.

Redgrove, H. Stanley, and I. M. L. Redgrove. Joseph Glanvill and Psychical Research in the Seventeenth Century. London: William Rider & Son, 1921.

Taylor, Sascha. Glanvill: The Uses and Abuses of Skepticism. New York: Pergamon Press, 1981.

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