The first paperback edition of Michell’s fascinating study of the lives and beliefs of over 20 eccentric people. Eccentric Lives and Peculiar Notions takes us into the bizarre and often humorous lives of such people as Lady Blount, who was sure that the earth is flat; Cyrus Teed, who believed that the earth is a hollow shell with us on the inside; Edward Hine, who believed that the British are the lost Tribes of Israel; and Baron de Guldenstubbe, who was sure that statues wrote him letters. British writer and housewife Nesta Webster devoted her life to exposing international conspiracies, and Father O'Callaghan devoted his to O'Callaghan devoted his to opposing interest on loans. The extraordinary characters in this book wereand in some cases still are wholehearted enthusiasts for the various causes and outrageous notions they adopted, and John Michell describes their adventures with spirit and compassion. Some of them prospered and lived happily with their obsessions, while others failed dismally. We read, for example, of the hapless them prospered and lived happily with their obsessions, while others failed dismally. We read, for example of the couple who drilling holes in their heads, about the Last of the Welsh Druids; Congressman Ignacius Donnelly, the Great Heretic and Atlantis; Shakespearean Decoders and the Baconian Treasure Hunt; Early Ufologists; Jerusalem in Scotland; Bibliomaniacs; more.

ECCENTRIC LIVES AND PECULIAR NOTIONS by John Mitchell. 248 pages. 6x9 Paperback. Illustrated, references, and index.