Building upon Historic Occult’s previous post regarding Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s belief in spiritualism and spirit photography it is no wonder that Doyle was a believer in the Cottingley Fairies.
Today’s post is sharing Doyle’s investigative tale of the fairies and the girls who swore they interacted with them. Though it has been confirmed that the photos – like the one on the right – were a hoax, Doyle’s analysis of the validity of these images is an interesting peek into historic spiritualism and the willingness for people to believe in something good during a dark time.
Because the book is out of copyright and therefore in the Public Domain, there are many versions, both physical and digital. Of the digital copies I have come across, the copy I am linking today – from the University of Adelaide – is the most visually pleasing and well put together.
Dublin Core Metadata
Title: The Coming of the Fairies
Creator: Doyle, Arthur Conan, 1859-1930
Subject: “Fairies” “Hoaxes” “Spiritualism”
Description: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1922 book investigating the Cottingley Fairies
Publisher: University of Adelaide
Date: originally published 1922; e-book 2005
Type: text
Format: website
Source: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/doyle/arthur_conan/fairies/complete.html
Language: English
Relation: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Spirit
Rights: text is within the Public Domain
Historic Occult 
I was disappointed when I read the fairies were a hoax. They are a bit fanciful for me and yet… it isn’t totally unreasonable.
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