La mort et son mystère, tome I, Camille Flammarion, Ernest Flammarion Editeur, 1920

La mort et son mystère, tome I, Camille Flammarion, Ernest Flammarion Editeur, 1920

In-8°, pp. (6), 400, (1), paperback with allegorical vignette and title in red and black. Beards, slightly yellowed. A signature to the title.

First part, perfectly in its own right, of this work by Flammarion on the mystery of death and the eventuality of a life beyond it, aimed at affirming the immortality of the soul against the materialistic deviances of positivism.

The chapters concerning divination and those concerning telepathy are also extremely interesting. Flammarion (Montigny-le-Roi, Haute-Marne, 1842-Juvisy-sur-Orge, Paris, 1925) entered the Paris observatory as a student astronomer, directed by the great Urbaine Leverrier, just sixteen years old, to then set up an autonomous observatory in Juvisy in 1882 and, in 1887, the Astronomical Society of France.

Remarkable researcher (he studied double and multiple stars, the topography and atmospheric composition of the Moon and Mars, aeroliths, the variations of the obliquity of the ecliptic), dedicated in his last years to spiritistic and occult practices, and very intelligent popularizer even the most abstruse astronomical theories in a flat style full of inspiration, he left a large number of works destined for a very large fortune, influenced by writers and scientists such as Fontenelle, Cyrano de Bergerac, Huygens, Lalande, Brewster. Dorbon-Aine, 1678

Couverture souple, 400 pages, format 12x19cm

Status: excellent