ORIGINS OF MODERNITY

theology & witchcraft

Aubrey, John (1626-1697)
Miscellanies upon the following subjects : I. Day-fatality; II. Local-fatality; III. Ostenta; IV. Omens; V. Dreams ... XXI. Second-sighted persons; XXII. The discovery of two murders by an apparition / Collected by John Aubrey. The second edition, with large additions. To which is prefixed some account of his life.
London : Printed for A. Bettesworth etc., 1721.

The English virtuoso John Aubrey (1626-97) was fascinated by reports of supernatural phenomena and corresponded with the Scottish savant Dr James Garden on the latter’s encounters with ‘second sight’. This is the ability to foresee future events by divine revelation. Aubrey’s Miscellanies gives the first account of second sight in print. His data is derived from Garden. Indeed there was widespread interest in second sight. For example, copy of a letter from Garden to Aubrey on second sight is to be found among John Locke’s manuscripts.