附註:"A new edition of Robert Kirk's The secret commonwealth and other texts, with an introductory essay."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-237) and index.
1. Robert Boyle's notes on his interview with Lord Tarbat, 3 October 1678 -- 2. "A collection of highland rites and customs" -- 3. Robert Kirk's The secret commonwealth and his "A short treatise of the Scotish-Irish charms and spells" -- 4. James Garden's letters to John Aubrey -- 5. Samuel Pepys' collection of letters on second sight -- 6. John Frasers' Deuteroscopia -- 7. Edward Lhuyd's and Robert Wadrow's questionnaires and the responses of John Fraser and John MacLean.
摘要:"The uncanny ability of certain individuals to foresee future events had long been regarded as a characteristic of the Scottish Highlands, but in the late seventeenth century interest in the phenomenon came to a head, stimulated by English scientific and philosophical curiosity about magic, particularly second sight. The natural philosopher Robert Boyle and other English savants investigated these Highland beliefs; they found the region a kind of laboratory, strange yet accessible, where data about unusual beliefs could be collected and theories tested. Scottish authors were also stimulated to write accounts of second sight, notably John Fraser, Dean of the Isles, and the Highland minister, Robert Kirk (1644-92), in his famous work, The Secret Commonwealth. These and other texts are included in this book, making available crucial information about belief systems which might otherwise never have been recorded, and illuminating changing contemporary attitudes towards the relationship between the natural and the supernatural."--
