Item #944 [AKSAKOV VS MENDELEEV] Razoblacheniya: Istoriya Medium. komis. Fiz. o-va pri S.-Peterb. un-te s pril. vsekh protokolov i prochikh dokumentov [i.e. Exposures: The History of the Committee for the Examination of Mediumistic Phenomena Founded by the Physical Society at the St. Petersburg University with the Minutes and Other Documents Attached]. A. Aksakov.
[AKSAKOV VS MENDELEEV] Razoblacheniya: Istoriya Medium. komis. Fiz. o-va pri S.-Peterb. un-te s pril. vsekh protokolov i prochikh dokumentov [i.e. Exposures: The History of the Committee for the Examination of Mediumistic Phenomena Founded by the Physical Society at the St. Petersburg University with the Minutes and Other Documents Attached]

[AKSAKOV VS MENDELEEV] Razoblacheniya: Istoriya Medium. komis. Fiz. o-va pri S.-Peterb. un-te s pril. vsekh protokolov i prochikh dokumentov [i.e. Exposures: The History of the Committee for the Examination of Mediumistic Phenomena Founded by the Physical Society at the St. Petersburg University with the Minutes and Other Documents Attached]

Item #944

St. Petersburg: tip. V. Bezobrazova i K°, 1883. - XXVI, 278 pp.: ill. 24х16 cm. Contemporary quarter-leather. Very good.
First edition. Published by the herald of Russian spiritualism, Alexander Aksakov (1832-1903), this book is a response to Dmitriy Mendeleev’s controversial work, Materialy dlya Suzhdenia o Spiritizme [i.e. Materials on the Study of Spiritualism].
The roots of the dispute between Alexander Aksakov and Dmitriy Mendeleev go back to the early 1870s when interest in the study of spiritualism in Russia had reached its peak. A primary force for the popularization of paranormal activity in the Empire was the “trifoulium” – Alexander Butlerov (Mendeleev’s colleague and one of the principal creators of the theory of chemical structure), Nikolay Vagner (a Russian essayist, writer, and a staunch Spiritualist), and Alexander Aksakov (the most influential representative of Russian spiritualism, an editor of the Leipzig-based spiritualist monthly Psychische Studien). The tensions between skeptics and supporters of spiritualism increased in 1871, when Alexander Butlerov hosted séances of the world-famous medium, Daniel Home (1833-1886), in his own apartment in St. Petersburg.
The resulting publicity on spiritualism alarmed Mendeleev who decided to organize The Committee for the Examination of Mediumistic Phenomena: “When Butlerov began to extensively preach about spiritualism, I decided to fight back against the superstition.” The Committee was formed by the Russian Physical Society at the St. Petersburg University and included some of the most prominent Russian physicists: Ivan Borgman, Nikolay Gezekhus, Nikolay Egorov, Konstantin Kraevich, etc. Mendeleev invited “Spiritualist trio” to oppose the Committee. During the sessions which started on May 7, 1875, the Committee examined the abilities of the mediums (the Petty Brothers and Madam Claire) personally brought to St. Petersburg by Aksakov. The tensions between the members began to escalate when, after the 5th séance, Mendeleev conducted a public speech on the proceedings of the meetings. Following a series of methodological disagreements, as well as a number of public statements from both sides, the relationship hit rock bottom during the 9th séance. Aksakov accused Mendeleev of breaching conditions required for trance of the Petty brothers - the scientist suddenly lit a match in a completely dark room. After the 15th session, Vagner wrote an official withdrawal from the work of the Committee. On March 4, Butlerov and Aksakov followed the suit. The sessions, which were initially intended to be forty, ended abruptly, with the last 19th séance being held on March 21, 1876. The Committee concluded that the acts of spiritualism were nothing but a fraud.
After the end of the debate, most of the participants lost interest in attempting to prove their point to the other party. However, Mendeleev and Aksakov both remained committed to their rhetorical agenda. On April 24/25, 1876, Mendeleev conducted what would later become known as the “April readings”: a formal conclusion on the Committee’s results. The same year, the author published a book, Materialy dlya suzhdeniya o spiritizme, which reproduced all the minutes of the Committee, and included six arguments attesting to the fraud of spiritualism.
Furious at the way Mendeleev had treated his mediums and upset at the tone of Materials, Aksakov published a response, Exposures, in 1883: “He (Mendeleev) haunts us, the advocates of mediumship, step by step, striving for the only goal: to ridicule spiritualism in general, and to ridicule us, supporters of the mediumship: Butlerov, Vagner and, me (in particular)”. The book consists of two main sections: Séances with the Petty brothers and Séances with Madam Claire. The edition also includes protocols of the meetings, illustrations of the equipment used during the séances, and the history of the organization of the Committee, in which the author accuses Mendeleev in the prejudgment.
Exposures became the final word in the debate between Aksakov and Mendeleev and from the late 1880s the interest in the study of spiritualism had gradually dropped down.

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