The Ghosts of My Friends. HENLAND, Cecil.

A rare completed copy of this Edwardian novelty autograph book, with all 48 "ghost" signatures dated 1908-13 and an extra "ghost" on the rear blank dated 1917. The participants would sign their name and fold the page vertically whilst the ink was still wet, producing ghostly inkblots anticipating the later Rorschach's test (1921). The first signature is dated 25 December 1908 and belongs to the assumed owner Elvira Genevieve Brandau, a head of house at Wellesley College. The other signatures belong to various scholars and alumni with connections to Harvard. Included here is the signature of Charles Rockwell Lanman (1850-1941), dated 10 August 1910. He has inscribed a passage in Sanskrit with the translation on the verso. One of the students Lanman taught during his Harvard tenure was T. S. Eliot in 1911-12. Also present are the signatures of two of Lanman's daughters and his future son in law, Robert A. Cushman. Other ghostly participants include James Lee Love and family, James B. Munn, and Henry Smith Leiper. Duodecimo. Frontispiece. Original red cloth, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, photographic plate within blind border on front cover. Spine toned, slight wear to extremities, a couple of ink stains to rear cover, occasional foxing to contents, 3.5 cm tear sometime repaired with tape. A very good copy.