Thackeray, William Makepeace (1811-1863)

This noted novelist was introduced to the phenomena of Spiritualism during a lecture tour in the United States, when he attended a séance with the famous medium D. D. Home. He also observed the rapping phenomena of Ann (Leah) Underhill, one of the Fox sisters. His sympathetic reaction was described in Underhill's book The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism (1885). This experience and subsequent observations with Home led Thackeray to endorse the sincerity of the anonymous account (written by Robert Bell) "Stranger Than Fiction." It was published in the Cornhill Magazine and edited by Thackeray. He was severely criticized for this apparent endorsement of Spiritualism.

However, it seems that, in fact, his attitude was somewhat ambiguous. In a letter to his friends Mrs. Thomas F. Elliot and Kate Perry, he states:

"Yes I have seen the Rappers, and the table moving, and heard the Spirits. The moving of tables is undoubted, the noises and knocks (continual raps following the person who has the gift of eliciting them) some natural unexplained phenomenon but the Spirits is of course dire humbug and imposture. They try to guess at something and hit or miss as may be. 1000 misses for one hit—It is a most dreary and foolish superstition…. But the physical manifestations are undoubt ed—Tables moving lifted up and men even lifted off the ground to the ceiling so some are ready to swear—but though I do not believe in this until I see it; I wouldn't have believed in a table turning 3 weeks ago—and that I have seen and swear to…."

Both Thackeray and his friend Charles Dickens had the highest regard for John Elliotson, a pioneer of mesmerism who was later converted to Spiritualism after initial skepticism. Thackeray based his character "Dr. Goodenough" in Pendennis and The Newcomes on Elliotson, and dedicated the former novel to him.

Sources:

Goldfarb, Russell M., and Clare R. Goldfarb. Spiritualism and Nineteenth-Century Letters. New Brunswick, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1978.

Underhill, A. Leah. The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism. New York: Thomas R. Knox, 1885. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1976.