Young, L. E. [Mrs. Lou Ella Young]. 25 Lessons In Hypnotism: How to Become an Expert Operator
M. Young, 1899.
36 pages. red paper wraps.
Franklin Publishing Co. / Padell Book Co., New York, 1935.
64 pages. Saddle-stitched, pale yellow paper wraps. (58 pages of of original text, 6 pages of
new text by an uncredited writer.)
Johnson-Smith and Company, Detroit, undated, circa 1938.
64 pages (32 pages plus 32 page of ads for novelty goods and booklets). Square-bound, grey paper wraps
Top Hat Magic Company, Evanston, Illinois, undated, circa 1950 - 1960.
36 pages. side-stitched pamphlet.
This popular pamphlet has a complex history. It was not designed as a stand-alone
booklet, but rather as a handy pocket-size adjunct to Mrs. Lou Ella Young's comprehensive 252 page
book, "The Science of Hypnotism," also published in 1899. She and "M. Young," whose photographic
portrait appears in the larger book, were among among the first American authors to translate and
summarize the extensive corpus of 19th century European publications on mesmerism and hypnosis. This
booklet, by removing most of the history and theory contained in "The Science of Hypnotism,"
was aimed at the popular occult, metaphysical, scientific, spiritual, and entertainment communities, and
in this objective it succeeds admirably, its printing history long outlasting that of the
book upon which it was based.
There have been at least half a dozen editions of "25 Lessons in Hypnotism" issued by as many
publishers in the past 120-plus years. The editorial text revisions, variant typesetting,
and changes in cover art (or lack thereof) show that many hands have touched this work
since its copyright was not renewed and it entered the public domain, circa 1928. As far as
i know, it has never been out of print, and it well deserves that status, for it is a true classic.
On the original 1899 edition with the red wraps, the title given on the cover is "25
Lessons In Hypnotism: How to Become an Expert Operator," and a longer subtitle on the
title page identifies the booklet as "25 Lessons in Hypnotism, Being the Most Perfect,
Complete, Easily Learned and Comprehensive COURSE in the World, Embracing the Science of
Magnetic Healing, Telepathy, Mind Reading, Clairvoyant Hypnosis, Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism,
Thought Transference, Personal Magnetism and Kindred Sciences." The running head on each
page is "Young's Lessons in Hypnotism." The cover art is a cropped version of
Figure 6 from "The Science of Hypnotism," showing group-hypnosis in a stage context;
in order to fit the narrower designated space here, the woman at the far right of the group
has been removed. This booklet was not typeset to match "The Science of Hypnotism," but seems to
have been handled by a job-printer who had some wonderful old 19th century fonts on hand. There
are textual references not only to "The Science of Hypnotism," but even to page numbers within
the bigger book for the reader to consult. These are removed in subsequent editions.
The pale yellow cover shown here is from the most popular variant of the booklet, and this example
depicts the first printing of this edition, from Franklin Publishing / Padell Book Co., of New York
in 1935. The uncredited cover artist utilizs the stereotypical Svengali-and-Trilby image of
a man hypnotizing a woman, which became quite popular on cheap hypnotism books iduring the '
first half of the 20th century. The text has been newly typeset and amended to remove references to
page numbers in "The Science of Hypnotism," although the book itself is still mentioned.
There are several interior illustrations in pen-and-ink line art with a grey Ben-Day screen.
Young's lessons themselves run only through page 58, and the additional six pages form a
new chapter by an uncredited writer, titled "Putting Hypnotism to Use." This is filled with
newspaper clippings that give accounts of hypnotism in America and Europe. One of them mentions
"J. Louis Orton of Uxbridge, England," the author of "Hypnotism Made Practical," who had recently
broken some kind of world record by hypnotizing a woman while they were in an airplane flying at
2,000 feet. This version of "25 Lessons" was widely reprinted in the 1970s with a cover of bright
yellow card-stock, and had a considerable revival at that time.
The Johnson-Smith edition with the greyish cover transposes the title page
subtitle to the cover, so the booklet is retitled as "25 Lessons in Hypnotism, Magnetic Healing &
Personal Magnetism, Being the Most Perfect ..." It has been retypeset,
and the font is so small, in order to fit it into 32 pages and leave room for 32 pages of ads,
that it is almost unreadable. Not only that, but the type is placed in erratic blocks,
more or less at the rate of one lesson per page, not completely filling the pages. The cover
illustration, uncredited, is yet another stereotypical Svengali-and-Trilby image.
The editing to remove the page number references to "The Science of
Hypnotism" differs from the editing done in the Franklin Publishing / Padell Book Co. version.
This edition was printed in 1938, as can be determined from the popular "new" dance fads mentioned in
an ad for a book on dancing, and corroborated by the cryptic notation "387" -- July, 1938 -- on
the back cover.
Last in my collection is the edition from Top Hat Magic Company in Evanston, Illinois,
undated but from the 1950s, because the address lacks a zip code. Top Hat Magic was operated
by Robert M. (Bob) Tracey, and sold magic tricks and novelties via
mail order from the 1950s through the 1970s. This edition is an exact facsimile of the original
1899 edition, but because the original cover was printed in black-on-red, which could not be
separated with the panchromatic film of the era, Tracey slapped on a plain white glossy typeset
Kromekote cover rather than pay for cover art. In other words, in every way except for the cover,
this version is identical to the 1899 edition. Like the original, it is titled, on the cover,
"25 Lessons in Hypnotism: How to Become an Expert Operator."
"25 Lessons in Hypnotism" has remained in print for well more than a century because it is so
succinct and easy to understand. Lou Ella Young did an admirable job of presenting clear
instructions in hypnotism in a wide variety of social and clinical contexts, which she
believed should be employed as "an educational agent,
a curative agent, or a means by which the supernormal powers of the human mind may be studied
to the best advantage." Small though it is, this is a must-have booklet for every hypnotist's library.
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