Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions

London

Printed: and sold by J. Roberts

1727

"But 'tis easily solv'd, by answering that it is but a seeming Contradiction, for both the Apparitions are visible, only not to the same Optick Powers; the Apparition in Dream is visible to the intellectual sight, to the Eye of the Soul; and the Day-light Apparition is visible to the common ordinary sight."

Our Friends the Criticks may stumble here, perhaps, at the seeming contradiction in the Terms, as particularly this of invisible Apparition. But 'tis easily solv'd, by answering that it is but a seeming Contradiction, for both the Apparitions are visible, only not to the same Optick Powers; the Apparition in Dream is visible to the intellectual sight, to the Eye of the Soul; and the Day-light Apparition is visible to the common ordinary sight: and you have an Expression in the Scripture often made use of, which gives an unquestion'd Authority for this way of speaking.
(p. 219)

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2 entries in ESTC (1727, 1728). For a publication history, see Rodney Baine's 1962 essay, "Daniel Defoe and 'The History and Reality of Apparitions.'" First edition, published by J. Roberts, appeared anonymously on March 18, 1727. Second issues were sold the same year by A. Millar. The 1735 edition, reissued in 1738 and 1740.

Text from An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions: Being an Account of What They are, and What They are Not; Whence They Come, and Whence They Come Not. (London: Printed: and sold by J. Roberts, 1727). <Link to ECCO-TCP>

08/16/2013