CONFUSION OF PROPHETS - Hardcover

Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dw, now mylar-sleeved. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered.; 192 pages; Description: 192 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. "A Juliet Gardiner book. " Includes bibliographical references (p. [170]-184) and index. Subjects: Astrologers --England --Biography. Astrology --History --19th century --20th century. Summary: From the 1830s, horoscopic astrology staged a comeback among the urban middle-classes in England. Part of the popular Victorian fascination with mesmerism, magic and the occult, astrology was particularly disturbing to the intellectual and moral authorities. This book examines the colourful mental and cultural underworld of men like "Raphael", "Zadkiel" and Alan Leo, who exploited and created this demand, and their patrons and clients. These included sensation-seeking aristocrats and people hungry for self-knowledge, but disillusioned with the orthodox religion and with the new scientific answers.