Index to Venman's "Notes" on the Occult.

n.p.. 1875.

A manuscript index to a vast, unfinished occult encyclopaedia

A manuscript notebook dated 1875 setting out a detailed index to Hezekiah Venman's extensive "Notes" on the Occult. 322x130mm. 77 pages of manuscript bound in vellum and with the title written by hand on the front cover. Somewhat soiled and marked and rubbed at the corners but this was clearly much used by Venman. Internally very clean and clear, written in a large, legible hand. An attractive book and an interesting insight into Venman's working methods and how he planned to organise his monumental study of the occult. The first page is entitled "Plan for an Occult Encyclopaedia". This is followed by an index set out A-Z covering every from Alchemy and Amulets to Zoraster via Gnomes and Lucky Planets. Venman has, with some of these entries, indicated the page number of the encyclopaedia where the relevant entry will be found. There then follows Venman's chapter by chapter table of contents for the encyclopaedia. It was to run to 31 chapters (and over 900 pages) on subjects such as Folk-Lore and Rustic Sorcery, Modern Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Somnambulism, Trance and Un-Conscious Cerebration. There is then a section entitled "Contents of Appendix". Venman has also included a "Notice" (dated 1895) in which he claims copyright to his "Classification of Phenomena opposed to or contravening natural laws as held by Scientists". These "Classifications" are to be supported by "Narratives of Typical Cases". There follows seventeen pages of notes headed "Provisional Classifications" beginning with "Abnormal Sounds" and going on to "Phenomena of Movement", "of Ponderability" and "of Resistance".
Hezekiah Venman (d.1899) was a chemist and an associate of the Society for Psychical Research. His interest in the paranormal was more than just a part-time hobby for he collected a huge archive of articles documents, letters and manuscripts on all aspects of the occult. Venman never published the fruits of his extensive labours but it seems that he intended to do and this rather wonderful document gives us a clear picture of how his extraordinary encyclopaedia would have looked.

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