SENATE HOUSE LIBRARY University of London IDENTITY STATEMENT Reference: MS912 Title: Eric John Dingwall Papers. Dates: c1800-1986 Level: fonds Extent and Medium: 242 boxes Name of Creator: Dingwall, Eric John (1890-1986) anthropologist CONTEXT Biographical/Administrative History: Born in Ceylon in 1890, Eric John Dingwall was a graduate of Pembroke College, Cambridge. He joined the staff of the Cambridge University Library in 1915 as a volunteer and went on to become an assistant librarian, leaving in 1918. In his youth he developed an enduring interest in magic and was eventually elected to the Magic Circle. This informed his approach to the investigation of the physical phenomena of mediumship, his major contribution to the Society for Psychical Research which he joined in 1920. In 1921 he spent a year in the United States as Director of the Department of Physical Phenomena at the American Society for Psychical Research. He was then appointed research officer to the British Society in 1922. One facet of Dingwall's complex character was his interest in sexual deviation and peculiar sexual practices, an interest which annoyed some of his colleagues at the Society and led to the termination of his appointment in 1927. His failure to be elected to the Society Council in 1928 led to his excessive criticism of the Society's administration. Released from his responsibilities at the SPR he continued to publish books including "Ghosts and Spirits in the Ancient World" (1930), "The Girdle of Chastity" (1931) and "How to Use a Large Library" (1933). In 1932 he was awarded his DSc from University College London. During the Second World War he worked for the Ministry of Information and in "a department of the Foreign Office". After the war he became Honorary Assistant Keeper at the British Museum Library, later the British Library, where he became a recognised authority on historical erotica, as well as on magic and psychical research. He also continued to publish books including two collections of short biographies of strange characters, "Some Human Oddities" (1947) and "Very Peculiar People" (1950) and contributed to to a four volume treatise "Abnormal Hypnotic Phenomena: A survey of nineteenth century cases" (1967/68). Dingwall was married twice. His first wife Doris left him, his second wife was Dr Margaret Davies who died on Christmas Eve 1976. Dingwall spent his remaining years independently and alone until his death on 7 August 1986. CONTENT Scope and Content: Material comprises a series of scrapbooks and loose papers containing press cuttings, journal articles, advertisements, letters and photographs including those relating to psychical research, investigations into paranormal events and occurrences, mediums and spiritualists and the exposure of fraudulent practitioners, anthropology, medical research, sexuality, erotic literature, crime, religion and religious beliefs and conjuring. (Items in this series can be cross referenced with the index slips/cards in series three of the collection); a series of notebooks with quotes, extracts and comments by various writers and notes and comments by Dingwall on subjects such as ancient medicine, body decoration, chastity, infibulation, witchcraft, magic, telekinesis, mediumship and demonology, and appointment diaries, including some belonging to Dingwall's wife Dr Margaret Davis; index slips/cards with additional material including press cuttings, articles, letters, postcards and advertisements (the index slips/cards can be cross referenced with the scrapbooks and loose papers in series one); correspondence between Dingwall and various individuals and organisations including author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, escapologist and psychical researcher Harry Houdini, Professor Alfred Kinsey, psychical researcher and co-author of "The Haunting of Borley Rectory" Trevor Hall, mediums Willi and Rudi Schneider and Margery Crandon, the Society for Psychical Research (including the American branch), the BBC, the Parapsychology Foundation and the College of Psychic Studies as well as correspondence relating to the disposal of Dingwall's estate after his death (THIS SERIES IS CLOSED UNTIL 2025); photographs, glass plate negatives and lantern slides including the Frederick Barlow collection; printed material including copies of "The Demon Telegraph" and various catalogues for conjuring products, and Dingwall's toolkit for investigating hauntings and poltergeist activity. (A second series of scrapbooks referenced R-Z have been transferred to the Harry Price Collection). ACCESS AND USE Language of Scripts: English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Latin, Afrikaans & Danish. System of Arrangement: 1. Research Material. 2. Notebooks, Diaries & Notes. 3. Index Slips. 4. Correspondence (Closed until 2025). 5. Photographs, Glass Plate Negatives & Lantern Slides. 6. Printed Material. 7. Hauntings & Poltergeist Toolkit. Conditions of Access: Open except for records restricted under the Data Protection Act or the Freedom of Information Act. Please contact the University Archivist for details. At least 24 hours notice is required for research visits. ALL CORRESPONDENCE IS CLOSED UNTIL 2025 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF THE DEPOSIT. Conditions of Reproduction: Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Special Collections Reading Room staff who need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests. MS912/1 Research Material. 1806-1986 Scrapbooks (A-Z) and loose material comprising press cuttings, articles, advertisements, letters, references and some photographs reflecting Dingwall's work in psychical research, his efforts to discover those with genuine psychic ability and the exposure of fraudulent practitioners; those involved in the paranormal and parapsychology, and his interests in anthropology, medical issues and the criminal justice system. The material covers a wide range of subjects including seances and ouija sittings, mediums and spiritualists, hauntings, poltergeist activity, mesmerism, materialisations, parapsychology, fortune telling, palmistry, tarot readings and spirit and psychic photography. Other subjects include murder, child abuse and paedophilia, transgender and transexual people, prostitution, racism, crime, tribal cultures, artificial cranial deformity, circumcision, female chastity, evolution and religion. Reference numbers, issued by Dingwall, on the material can be cross checked with the index cards in series three of the catalogue however, please note some reference numbers appear to be missing and in some instances items are mis-numbered or have not been given a reference number. 131 scrapbooks, 254 folders, 5 notebooks, 1 volume and 1 thesis MS912/1/1 Scrapbook (AA). 1921-1934 Correspondence between Dingwall and Walter Prince from Dingwall's work with the American Society for Psychical Research in 1921 to Prince's death in 1934 including their views on the medium Margery Crandon, the controversy over the Hope psychic photographs, the Pecoraro experiment, Professor Gilbert Murray becoming the Charles Elliot Norton Lecturer at Harvard University, Harry Price, his research and experiments and their concerns about the future of psychical research. Some of the letters have supporting notes and reports from various sittings. Also included is a first draft for an international standard glossary of technical terms for use in psychical research suggested by Prince; a report to the Advisory Scientific Council with a list of Council members; an article "A Prophecy Made in 1732"; "Walter Franklin Prince: A Personal Appreciation", a tribute to Prince upon his death by Dingwall (1934) and photographs of Walter and Theodosia Prince. (Items numbered 1-118). 1 scrapbook MS912/1/2 Scrapbook (AB). 1922-1958 Correspondence with Hereward Carrington (1922-1955) discussing attending seances with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Willi Schneider, the medium Margery Crandon, the theft of letters sent by Dingwall and books and articles written by him; with H.S.W. Chibbert regarding the "Clive" seance; with Grant H. Code regarding Margery Crandon, with a copy of a letter to her husband, Dr Crandon, discussing a private sitting with Margery; with Abdy Collins and Harry Price about the "coat trick" used in sittings by Mr Webber; with C. George Wright of the London Spiritualist Alliance regarding the exposure of fake mediums by the Magic Circle, with a copy of a letter to the Sunday Chronicle responding to an article about psychical phenomena being fraudulently produced; with Professor Daniel Walter defending the medium Frau Silbert and with Stanley de Brath and Baron Schrenck- Notzing (in French and German). Also included are prospectuses and leaflets for The British College of Psychic Science, the American Psychical Institute and Laboratory and The International Home Circle Federation; reports by Walter Prince and Dingwall describing sittings at the home of "Mrs Conway of Massachusettes"; details of a psychic conference in Llanberis, North Wales (1934); a black and white signed portrait of Hereward Carrington and various press cuttings. (Items numbered 1-161). 1 scrapbook MS912/1/3 Scrapbook (AC). 1917-1939 Correspondence including those with Professor R.W. Wood of Johns Hopkins University regarding his resignation from the Society of Psychical Research and the acquisition of equipment for use in psychic research; with R.J. Tillyard discussing sittings with Margery Crandon, Stella C, Evan Powell and Harold Evans and Dingwall's disagreement with Harry Price;