The secret commonwealth of elves, fauns & fairies

a study in folk-lore & psychical research

by Robert Kirk, Andrew Lang (Editor) & W. Lockhart Bogle (Illustrator)

First published:
19th century
Language: English

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Description

Description from Project Gutenberg

"The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies" by Robert Kirk is a unique study in folklore and psychical research written in the late 17th century, specifically centered around Kirk's observations and beliefs about fairy lore. The text explores the existence and nature of various mythical creatures and spirits, presenting a detailed metaphysical framework for understanding their role in human experience and the natural world. The opening of the work provides context for understanding the author, Robert Kirk, who was a minister and believed to have been taken by the fairies. It discusses his life, his scholarly focus on the supernatural, and sets the stage for the exploration of the fairy world. It describes the beliefs held by Kirk regarding "Sleagh Maith" or the "Good People," as well as the phenomena related to second sight and the unseen beings inhabiting the natural world around us. Through an introduction that investigates the interplay between folklore, religion, and psychical phenomena, Kirk presents a blend of personal insight and cultural lore, hinting at the complex relationship humans have with the mysteries of the unseen. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Legendary beings and transformations, Parapsychology and psychical research, and Telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.

Parapsychology and psychical research
Controlled discovery queries from openlibrary-historical and project-gutenberg matched “Parapsychology” and “parapsychology”. Retained metadata contains “Psychical research” in the subtitle, “Psychical research” in the description, “Parapsychology” in the subject metadata, and 1 additional metadata match(es).
- “Parapsychology”· via Open Library
- “parapsychology”· via Project Gutenberg
- “Psychical research”· in subtitle
- “Psychical research”· in description
- “Parapsychology”· in subject
- “Psychical research”· in edition subtitle
Telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition
Controlled discovery queries from openlibrary-historical and project-gutenberg matched “Clairvoyance” and “clairvoyance”. Retained metadata contains “Second sight” in the description and “Clairvoyance” in the subject metadata.
- “Clairvoyance”· via Open Library
- “clairvoyance”· via Project Gutenberg
- “Second sight”· in description
- “Clairvoyance”· in subject
Legendary beings and transformations
Controlled discovery queries from openlibrary-historical and project-gutenberg matched “Fairies” and “fairies”. Retained metadata contains “Fairies” in the title, “Fairies” in the description, “Fairies” in the subject metadata, and 1 additional metadata match(es).
- “Fairies”· via Open Library
- “fairies”· via Project Gutenberg
- “Fairies”· in title
- “Fairies”· in description
- “Fairies”· in subject
- “Fairies”· in edition title

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

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Editions

2 editions cataloged here.

Edition	Date	Publisher	Language	ISBN	Access	Links
a study in folk-lore & psychical research Open Library record	1893	D. Nutt	English	—	No ebook	Open Library (opens in a new tab)
Project Gutenberg electronic edition Project Gutenberg metadata does not identify the source print edition.	2025-02-27	Project Gutenberg	English	—	Public domain (USA)	Project Gutenberg (opens in a new tab)