The Great Harmonia; Being a Philosophical Revelation of the Natural, Spiritual, and Celestial Universe.

Boston: Sanborn, Carter & Bezin, 1851-65. First edition of all but Vol. I (it being the fourht edition). Five octavo volumes (complete). Frontispiece of the author in Vl. I. Publisher's vertically-ribbed brown cloth with blind-stamped borders, corner devices and central arabesques, gilt spine lettering pale yellow endpapers, Some chipping to cloth at various place,two volumes with expert spine restoration but a very clean and tight copy.This is the magnum opus of Andrew Jackson Davis, one of the most prolific authors in the field of spiritualism and hermetic science. A supreme compendium of Davis's thinking, this work comprises eight books. Each of these contains a revelatory analysis of a realm of spiritualist thought, beginning with considerations of the divine God and His relation to human intellect and thought processes. This examination of the Creator is followed with a detailed look at the interplay between the cosmos, spiritual forces, and the very genesis of mankind.Davis was no Hegel and his methods were in keeping with the times. In 1844 Davis experienced a conversion which changed the whole direction of his life. It soon became apparent that Davis, while in a state of consciousness (mesmerism) , could accurately diagnose medical disorders. In this condition, Davis described how the human body became transparent to his spirit eyes; this seemed to come from the center of the forehead. Each organ stood out clearly with a special luminosity of its own which greatly diminished in cases of disease... [also in 1844] Davis was suddenly overcome by some power which led him to “fly” from Poughkeepsie , where he lived, and hurry off in a semi-trance state, upon a rapid journey. Upon gaining full consciousness the next morning, he found himself amidst the Catskill Mountains , some 40 miles away. Here, he claims to have met two very distinguished men, whom he later identified as the philosopher Galen and the Swedish seer Emanuel Swedenborg, both of whom were, of course, dead. He also claimed to have experienced a great mental illumination and revelation. He then started dictating this, his greatest work, to a ckerj (and sometimes in Latin). He does not appear to be and out an out shyster as Davis's teachings left a deep impression on his age. The Great Harmonia passed through 40 editions. His autobiography The Magic Staff extended only to the year 1857, but was later supplemented with a sequel, Beyond the Valley (1885). In 1860 he founded the Herald of Progress, a weekly that absorbed the Spiritual Telegraph. In the late years of his life he had a small bookshop in Boston. There he sold books and, having earned a degree in natural medicine, prescribed herbal remedies for his patients.... Davis died January 13, 1910. He was an important influence in the early development of Spiritualism, particularly in his association of mediumistic revelations with religious principles. His concepts of after-death spheres for departed spirits, which he named "Summerland," are still part of the beliefs of many modern Spiritualists. He influenced most subsequent Spiritualist movements, including those of Thomas Lake Harris. It even seems possible that Edgar Allan Poe's "Eureka" owes its inception to Davis's Principles of Nature. Davis's complete library is now housed within the Edgar Cayce Library