~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from Oliver Cromwell’s Collected Works.

“We have no great objection to Cromwell’s shadow (though a bad metonymy for a portrait).” —The Metropolitan

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from Memoir of Ann H. Judson.

"It was vague and pale and insubstantial but the features were those of her portrait.” —Carolyn G. Hart, Southern Ghost

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from Roden Noel.

“The spirit’s face was pale, the color of a cold moon.” —Norman Partridge, Crow: Wicked Prayer

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from A complete history of the Mexican War.

“The General’s ghost could not be exorcised by burning a few bundles of paper.” —Alfred W. McCoy

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Frontispiece from Guardian’s Mystery.

"Only a ghostly shadow, but without that shadow, ironic nuance would be lost.” —W. B. Carnochan, Gibbon’s Solitude

Bibliomancer Craig Conley turns his attention to a decidedly modern bit of marginalia—Google Books' scanned images of author portraits as found in the frontispieces of Victorian-era books.  From his introduction: "In old books, frontispieces were typically protected by a sheet of translucent onionskin.  So thorough is the Google Books scanning process that even this page of onionskin is scanned.  The figure in the plate beneath the onionskin—'beyond the veil,' as it were—emerges as from a foggy otherworld.  The frontispieces were never meant to be seen this way."

However, the eyes of Conley have seen them such, and he presents here an entire book of paired portraits, veiled and unveiled.  The presentation evokes "necromancy by proxy," as Conley puts it, the scanning machine taking up the role of the crystal ball.  Quotes on ghosts, shadows, mist, and nothingness culled from Conley's tireless research accompany each diptych.  Ephemera of ephemera, The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine is an unexpectedly rewarding and transporting read.

—Clint Marsh (editor of Swami Panchadasi's Clairvoyance and Occult Powers: A Lost Classic), from his review in The Pamphleteer

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from Memoir of Samuel Slater.

Slater’s ghost is a mirror image. The striped aura in his portrait appears courtesy of the scanning machine.

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from Margaret Woods.

Margaret’s insubstantial "Woods” is reminiscent of Victor Hugo’s perspective on death: "I feel in myself the future life; I am like a forest that has been more than once cut down.”

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from Life of Washington.

"I don’t care if you’ve got George Washington’s ghost giving you evidence on this thing.” —Ellen Hawley, Open Line

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait of Old Q from The Ghosts of Piccadilly.

"The man was no more than a shadowy profile.” —Jason Hightman, The Saint of Dragons

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from Some Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson.

“Distorted it’s true, but distinct enough to make out a face.” —Martin Grzimek, Heartstop

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from Letters of Emily Dickinson.

"The Frost of Death was on the Pane—” —Emily Dickinson

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from the Alfred Saker biography.

“As through a veil I glimpse your hands in the shadows.” —Hans Urs von Balthasar

~ Amorphous Apparitions ~

Portrait from The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mrs. Delany.

“A faint image; slightest suggestion: a ghost of a smile.” —The World Book Dictionary

~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from Autobiography of Anna Cora Ogden Mowatt Ritchie.

“The phantom of a young woman with tight ringlets in her hair has been seen running up and down the staircase.” —Dennis William Hauck, Haunted Places

~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from Memoir of William H. Y. Hackett.

“A ghost in gray whose soul is mourning its life past.” —S. Vasuki

~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from Memoir of Rev. Henry Bacon.

“It was a ghost, no doubt, but there was no harm in cross-checking.” —Arup Kumar Dutta

~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from The Autobiography of Sir Henry Morton Stanley.

“The scowl only enhanced his smoky features.” —Bonnie Hearn Hill, Double Exposure

~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from Lloyd Mifflin.

“Have you ever seen a ghost’s mustache?” —Charles Laughton

~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from The Life of Artemas Ward.

“There you are with your smile, / translucent ghost.” —Wilberto L. Cantón