Cosmic Consciousness: A Study In The Evolution Of The Human Mind.

4to. pp. xviii, [blank leaf], 318. with half-title. A fine uncut copy in original cloth (paper spine label slightly chipped). First Edition, Limited to 500 copies, signed by the Author. A classic and influential work in the modern study of mystical experience by an important Canadian progressive psychiatrist. Bucke's theory, which was partly based on his own experience, involved three stages in the development of consciousness: the simple consciousness of animals, the normal self-consciousness of man (encompassing reason, imagination, etc.), and cosmic consciousness, the next stage of human mental development where man feels a profound mystical sense of inter-connectedness with the universe. Bucke studied medicine at Montreal and in 1877 became head of the provincial Asylum for the Insane in London, Ontario, a position he held for most of the remainder of his life. He believed in non-restraint, social contact and normalization of routines in the institution and introduced organized activities that would now be described as occupational therapy. Bucke became a close friend and admirer of the American poet Walt Whitman, whose biography he wrote and for whom he acted as a literary executor. Bib. Osleriana 4612.…