Very rare first edition and, that we are able to trace, the only imprint of a medium who just didn't quite have the verbal pizazz to pull it off.
As with some mediums, angels rather than "spirits" are utilized in an attempt to make spiritism more appealing or palatable to Christians. And these angels are C H A T T Y. The "messages" discuss interplanetary travel, the causes of crime, and more. They have views on pretty much everything.
Fascinatingly, there is anintroductory “Explanation,” written by the medium Ellen E. Ward’s anonymous amanuensis, who attempts to explain the nature of angelic communication by likening it to the telegraph:
The telegraphic instrument is a useless medium of communication unless manipulated by one who is educated to control it. It is also useless to him who has that knowledge if he has not the necessary electrical power . . . [or] if the circuit is not complete, or if another expert is not at an instrument at the terminus of the line to receive his message…So with spirit messages. All of the laws governing this phenomena must be strictly obeyed . . .
A contemporary reviewer was unimpressed by Ward’s angels and their “peculiarly fatuous and jejune” messages, writing: “[if these] . . . were the messages from men, we should say that they are as stupid, vulgar, and commonplace in thought, and as crude in expression, as any we had ever received.”
Ward, Ellen E. Angels Messages, Through Mrs. Ellen E. Ward, As a Medium. Nashville. Wheeler, Marshall & Bruce, Printers. 1875. 408pp.
A good copy in original publisher's cloth. Generally rubbed and lightly shaken, tender at a few points. Pages are a bit handled with some light foxing as shown.
