9 h 8 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What should you trust when a dream seems to know the future, or a witness sees someone no one else can?
In The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, Andrew Lang explores dreams that seem to foretell events, figures seen at a distance, and houses said to be haunted. His starting point is not the chill of a strange tale, but the person who tells it. Who sees the apparition, and how does the story reach us?
Lang brings a folklorist’s curiosity to a question that troubles scholars and the public in 1897: can science explain these experiences? He looks for ordinary causes, including forgotten memories, without dismissing every report. Ancient writings, folk beliefs and accounts from his own day offer echoes of spirits, warnings and haunted places.
What you’ll discover
- Witnesses before wonders Follow Lang as he weighs the teller and traces the path a strange story takes.
- Dreams and forgotten memories Explore dreams of future or distant events, with ordinary explanations kept firmly in view.
- Figures no one else sees Consider reports from sober, healthy witnesses who describe apparitions without any wish to deceive.
- Folklore across time Discover how old tales of spirits and warnings echo accounts from Lang’s own day.
- Room for doubt Meet a curious guide who values evidence over rumour, without promising proof or firm debunking.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy ghost lore, folklore and the history of psychical research, and who like a doubtful but open-minded guide.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Weigh the witness before the wonder
- Dreams may borrow from forgotten memory
- Apparitions are seen, but what is seen?
- Old folklore and modern reports echo each other
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Il libro dei sogni e dei fantasmi
by Andrew Lang · 1897
Andrew Lang weighs prophetic dreams and haunted houses, testing strange experiences against ordinary explanations.
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In short
The Book of Dreams and Ghosts is a study of strange experiences by Andrew Lang, a Scottish writer, folklorist and poet. It appeared in 1897, when scholars and the public were arguing over whether apparitions and prophetic dreams could be explained by science.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Weigh the witness before the wonder
Lang begins from a plain point. A ghost story is only as good as the person who tells it and the chain of people who passed it on. He asks whether the account was written down soon after the event, whether the teller was in a position to know, and whether anyone had a reason to embellish.
For this reason he treats a tale heard at third or fourth hand with great caution. A story that has been retold at dinner tables for twenty years has usually grown. He points out how memory fills gaps and how a good ending tends to improve itself with each telling.
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What is The Book of Dreams and Ghosts about?
It is Andrew Lang's study of dreams that seem to foretell events, apparitions, haunted houses and crystal gazing. He looks at the evidence for each account and weighs ordinary explanations against stranger ones.
When was The Book of Dreams and Ghosts written?
It was published in 1897, during a period of strong public interest in spiritualism and psychical research. Lang was a member of the Society for Psychical Research at the time.
Is The Book of Dreams and Ghosts a true story?
It is not a novel. It is a nonfiction collection of reported experiences with Lang's comments. He presents them as accounts to be tested, not as proven facts.
The author
Andrew Lang
1844–1912 · Scottish poet and folklorist
Andrew Lang was a Scottish writer born in Selkirk in 1844. He lived in London and died in Banchory in 1912. He wrote poetry, novels, literary criticism, and works on folklore. He edited The Blue Fairy Book, published in 1889, and other fairy-book collections, including The Violet Fairy Book in 1901.
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