_Eccentric Lives & Peculiar Notions_, published in 1984, by British writer John Michell is a fascinating and fun examination of the lives of various individuals who held to peculiar notions often to the point of obsession. John Michell (1933 - ) is a British author who has written extensively on ancient mysteries and ancient wisdom traditions and considers himself to be a "radical traditionalist". This book examines the lives of various obscure and eccentric individuals and their peculiar ideas on particular topics. The book is a pleasure to read and offers much fascinating material. It is certain to be enjoyed by any who delight in learning about the extremes of the human condition and the limits of human sanity.
This book includes the following topics:
"A dreadfully persistent lover" - The life of the man known as Woodcock Carden who pursued his love to extremes despite her refusal of his advances.
"The strange adventure of a Somerset genealogist" - The life of Sir Ian Stuart-Knill and his wife Lady Eve and their research into the earliest history of King Arthur.
"Loyalists of the flat earth" - The history of the belief that the earth is flat, beginning with the Greek monk Cosmas and culminating in various fundamentalists in modern times who continue to cling to the biblically based belief in a flat earth despite the globularists. This section also includes discussion of attempts to determine which theory was correct, pitting the two theories against each other and featuring such characters as Alfred Russell Wallace and Lady Blount.
"The community that dwelt within the earth" - The followers of Dr. Cyrus Teed who advocated a utopian religion called Koreshanity and their belief that the earth was a hollow sphere (as well as attempts to prove this through measurement).
"The diehard priest who opposed capitalism" - The life and exploits of the diehard priest Father Jeremiah O'Callaghan who opposed the lending at interest (usury), basing his arguments on church tradition and Scripture, including mention of William Cobbett who largely embraced his ideas.
"A most conservative M.P. and the royal boycott of Lincoln" - The life of the arch-conservative Colonel Sibthorp who opposed all reform and change to the English Constitution of his youth.
"The first lady of conspiratology" - A thorough discussion of the notion of conspiracy theory, focusing on the life of Nesta Webster and her early involvement in the occult and her unveiling of a conspiracy against Christian civilization. This section also includes discussion of the Bavarian Illuminati and the nefarious Adam Weishaupt, as well as mentioning conspiracy theory in America including in modern times such as propagated by the magazine _The Spotlight_ and the U. S. Labor Party.
"The man who got letters from statues" - A discussion of the Fox sisters and spiritualism as well as Baron Ludwig de Guldenstubbe who received letters from statues.
"Two unusual landowners" - The lives of Lord Rokeby and Henry Lee Warner and their respectively unusual practices concerning the ownership of their land.
"The consolation of a jilted Latvian" - The life of the jilted lover Edward Leedskalnin and his creations of structures out of coral as well as his book of philosophy and advice.
"The judge who visited wild men" - The life of Lord Monboddo and his philosophy of universal consciousness which was an important precursor to Darwinism as well as his peculiar belief that orangutans were primitive men and that some men had tails.
"A crusader for thoroughbred people" - The life of Sir Francis Galton and his researches into human differences and statistics as well as the power of prayer. This section also discusses Galton's development of the ideas behind eugenics and his desire to breed a thoroughbred race of people.
"The inventor of frozen battleships" - The life and inventions of the eccentric Geoffrey Nathaniel Pyke and his role in education and in attempting to create a battleship made out of an ice-like material ("pykeite") to achieve victory in the Second World War.
"The last of the old Welsh druids" - The lives of various eccentrics, including Edward Williams (known as Iolo Morganwg), Dr. Price, and Evan Davies (known as Myfyr Morganwg), their eccentric and radical ideas, and their belief in a primitive Christianity embodied in the traditions of the Welsh druids.
"Jerusalem in Scotland and other findings of a revisionist geographer" - The life of Comyns Beaumont who proposed a revisionist geography of Britain in which Britain served as the true Holy Land which had been lost because of misdoings by Constantine.
"The people with holes in their heads" - Individuals who believe that through the practice of trepanation the mind can be liberated. This section also includes a discussion of the culture surrounding drugs and LSD in the Sixties and the role such ideas came to play on such people.
"Bibliomaniacs" - The lives of various individuals who became obsessed with collecting books to such a great degree that their lives were often ruined and their homes completely covered with books.
"Jews, Britons, and the lost tribes of Israel" - The belief that the British are in fact the lost tribe of Israel, popularized by British Israelites. This section also discusses various attempts by Victorians to convert the Jews to Christ as well as the role of early Zionism.
"Doubts on Shakespeare, and a Baconian martyr" - The life of Delia Bacon who believed that the author of Shakespeare's plays was in fact Francis Bacon.
"Congressman Donnelly, the great heretic" - The life of Ignatius Donnelly and his role in populist politics and in opposition to the conspiracies of bankers and big business as well as his theories concerning Atlantis, Ragnarok (and the collision of a comet with the earth), and the true authorship of Shakespeare's plays (he believed it to be Bacon).
"Shakespearean decoders and the great Baconian treasure hunt" - Further theories on the true authorship of Shakespeare's plays, emphasizing the role of Bacon but also of other figures such as Marlowe. Includes emphasis on cryptographs in deciphering the true authorship of Shakespeare.
"Eminent ufologists" - An examination of the UFO question, including such figures as George Adamski, Carl Jung, and Brinsley le Poer Trench, as well as various theories concerning the UFO phenomena and the role of governments.
This book is a fascinating examination of the minds of various eccentric and bizarre individuals who held to peculiar notions. It is a fun read and certain to be enjoyable to all who would look at the stranger side of human nature.
