Planetary Evolution; or, A New Cosmogony, Being an explanation of planetary growth and life energy, upon the basis of chemical and electrical relations of the elements of nature.

Deep teal cloth 12mo, 132pp. About Near Fine with fine speckles of mottling and gentle toning to textblock. Part of the Harry Houdini collection at the Library of Congress, attributed in the catalog to Thomas Cushman Buddington (b.1846), often known as the "Faraday Medium" for his spirit authorship of works "by the dictation of the late Faraday."

Buddington, in all guises, wrote about the relationship between the spiritual and material universes. Planetary Evolution... eagerly inserts theories of chemistry and evolution into Spiritualist philosophy, proclaiming that, "in the domain of chemical possibilities lie all the secrets that are embodied in physical form" (ix). He tries to muster credibility by referencing Darwin in the text--and advertised his work as "The Greatest Since Darwin!" It was offered for sale by the Religio-Philosophical Publishing House in Chicago. 1 LOC copy and 2 in Missouri; not in auction records. Nutty. Rare.