$915
Autographed letter signed ("A Conan Doyle"), 2 pages, letterhead, Windlesham, Crowborough, Sussex, August 3 (1922). To [Dr. Allerton] Cushman, concerning spirit photography. Doyle writes to Cushman concerning an ongoing investigation regarding William Hope's "spirit" photographs. On February 24, 1922, Harry Price provided Hope with marked plates for his sitting, and the exposed plates Hope provided Price in return (one of which contained a spirit) did not bear the mark, thereby showing that Hope had switched the new plates with a doctored one. Price published his evidence against Hope in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. In Doyle, who believed that spirits and ghosts could contact the living through a psychic-medium such as photography, lays out a series of experiments supporting the authenticity of William Hope's photographs. Doyle, and Hope's other supporters, vehemently denied Price's evidence, claiming an organized conspiracy against Hope. In the present letter, Doyle states: "The theory of the persecution is that the marked plate was left after abstraction, that Hope used them not knowing it was marked and that it is now a damning witness against him." Creased from the folds; some small pin holes; otherwise fine.
Auctioneer:
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
Date:
2010-11-18
