VENMAN, Hezekiah.

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Archive of manuscript material concerning the occult. An absorbing archive of manuscript material and correspondence assembled by the London chemist and devoted occultist Hezekiah Venman (1831-1897), a well-connected associate of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). A contributor to its journal and an active correspondent of Frederic Myers, Edmund Gurney, and other leading figures, Venman immersed himself in late-Victorian psychical inquiry. He published several works on Spiritualism, read widely in European occult literature, and attempted a comprehensive occult encyclopaedia at a moment when scientific progress and esoteric speculation were closely intertwined.The archive includes extensive correspondence illuminating Venman's position within the SPR's information-sharing network. Seven letters from Edward Trusted Bennett, the SPR's first secretary, discuss in 1888 an "apparatus" Venman proposed to the council - a planchette designed by Ernest Westlake and manufactured at Venman's instigation. Bennett reports both the SPR's interest and its practical frustrations, while noting that Myers had ordered several examples. Gurney's 1884 letter thanks Venman for rewriting misplaced mesmeric cases and comments on the rarity of such experiments. Other letters, including a brief note from F. M. Wright of The Occult Review, attest to Venman's reputation among contemporary investigators.Biographical elements also appear. Once bankrupt in 1862, Venman later operated successfully as

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