[Rarebooks] FS: WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST Inscribed with 3 Letters by Creator of Sherlock Holmes

[Charles Agvent]

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DOYLE, Arthur Conan. THE WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST: Signed with Three 
Autograph Letters. New York: George H. Doran Company, (1921). First 
American Edition. Original green cloth; illustrated with black-and-white 
photographic plates. INSCRIBED and SIGNED in full on the title page by 
the creator of Sherlock Holmes to Arthur Edward Stilwell, one of 
America's last empire builders of the gilded age: "Yours in the great 
cause of Spirit-/Arthur Conan Doyle,/May, 31/22." Laid down on the front 
free endpaper is a card from the Ambassador Hotel in New York on which 
Doyle has written a short letter of about 40 words arranging a meeting 
with Stilwell and SIGNED "Hurriedly,/A Conan Doyle." Laid in are 2 
further AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED (ALSs) by Doyle to Stilwell, both 
SIGNED as "A Conan Doyle." In a letter on both sides of a note card of 
the White Star Line dated June 29 Doyle writes: "I have read your book 
'THE LIGHT.' It is a very level & workmanlike production, with no high 
lights, but never sinking below a good quality. I agree with your 
publishers that it would be better not to allude to the Brownies.... I 
hope some path may open up for your Spiritual labours. I have written 
about you in my little book ... I have left nothing undone to smooth 
your way." The other letter is on one side of stationery from a 
telegraph office near Doyle's home. Doyle begins by telling Stilwell 
that "I am full of sympathy but it is simply impossible for me to fall 
into your Brownie scheme." Doyle then goes on to describe his itinerary 
for a tour of America. He also mentions fellow spiritualist Rev. Vale 
Owen and tells Stilwell that he has mentioned him to Lloyd George. Also 
included is a Third Edition of Stilwell's book UNIVERSAL PEACE--WAR IS 
MESMERISM,1911. Some rubbing to the cloth of the Doyle book with a 
little fraying to one spine edge. The letter on White Star Line 
stationery is a little wrinkled and soiled and has a vertical crease. 
The other two letters are Fine.

Arthur Edward Stilwell was the founder of Port Arthur, Texas, and the 
Kansas City Southern Railway. Stilwell claimed to be guided by 
spirits--which he called "Brownies"--in many of his decisions. According 
to SYBIL LEEK'S BOOK OF THE CURIOUS AND THE OCCULT, "Several times he 
escaped death by following his intuition. He was spiritually informed 
that he should build a railroad line south from Kansas City to Galveston 
on the Gulf of Mexico. At a point twenty-nine miles from Galveston, 
Stilwell's 'guide' told him to stop work and that the railroad must not 
go to Galveston or it would mean his personal ruin and death to 
thousands. He had a vision of a prosperous city struck down by a tidal 
wave and destroyed. There were angry protests from his investors when he 
announced his change of plan, but Stilwell followed his voices. He 
directed the route toward a comparatively little known spot on the 
coast, now Port Arthur. Four days after the completion of the railroad 
terminating in Port Arthur, a mammoth tidal wave swept along the coast 
of Texas and practically destroyed Galveston, reducing it to a shambles 
of death and destruction. Port Arthur escaped and became the center for 
the relief work for the stricken city. Stillwell became known as Lucky 
Stilwell, as his visions were corroborated a dozen times by actual 
events. He wrote books about his experiences and in 1910 predicted World 
War I, the collapse of the Russian aristocracy, and the restoration of 
Palestine to the Jews." Stilwell's luck apparently ran out as a company 
he organized to build a railroad connecting Kansas City with the Pacific 
Ocean was forced into receivership in March 1912. Ironically, oil was 
discovered under its tracks and was to contribute to the fortune of its 
receiver William T. Kemper. Stilwell died of apoplexy on 26 September 
1928. His distraught wife, Jennie, committed suicide by jumping out the 
window of their New York apartment thirteen days later. The Stilwells 
were said to have left an estate of only a thousand dollars. (#016954) 
     $6,000.00

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