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The Caledon Library is very pleased to introduce its most recent addition, the H.P. Blavatsky Memorial Branch Library, located at Adocentyn Tower, in Caledon Wellsian.  The Blavatsky branch, under the very able curation of Miss Aevalle Galicia, houses works on 19th century Spiritualism, along with sundry related materials. 

H.P. Blavatsky Memorial Branch Library
Adocentyn Tower, Caledon Wellsian
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Wellsian/175/18/43

Currently, the collection rejoices in some two hundred and fifty aetheric texts, including books, articles, and letters, spread over thirty volumes in seven bookcases.  Visitors are cordially invite to linger and peruse the stacks, or take copies home with them.  Bookcases are organized by theme, and volumes are generally by a single author.  Books in each volume are arranged alphabetically to allow for easier scanning and selection.

I made so bold as to ask the Curatrix for a brief introduction, which I have the pleasure of presenting below:

When Sir JJ asked me to write a few words on why I was interested in building the spiritualism collection and H. P. Blavatsky Memorial Branch of the Caledon Library, I was in a quandary to put words to paper. The idea just seemed to happen. In breaking apart the motivation, however, two reasons jumped out. First, it surprised me that there wasn't already a collection of this type. In looking around for something I could do to contribute to Caledon, this community I've grown to adore, I found a subject that fascinates me and one that wasn't previously represented. It seemed a natural fit for someone who has spent her life digging about for answers that others scoff at would pull together a collection of works by people who spent their lives doing the same thing.

That brings me to the second reason I wanted to put together the collection—the spiritualist movement itself (and the subsequent movements around it)--was so entwined in the Victorian landscape, yet so often now overlooked. The society pages of the day were filled with séances and spiritualist lectures. Preachers lectured from church pulpits and wrote to their parishioners on the dangers of traipsing nonchalantly and blithely into the spiritual world. Even so, many of the most brilliant writers and artists of the time were believers of spiritualism. Historians now also directly tie the fact many spiritualist leaders were female with the growth of the suffragette movement.

And love it or hate it, the spiritualist movement really came down to two ideas/questions that are heartfelt for most people, in any age. Thanks in part to the massive amounts of death related to the Civil War in the United States, many people wanted to know that their loved ones still existed, somewhere. The age-old question of what there is besides the existence we now know was another main theme running throughout spiritualism. As much as yours truly tends to keep her head in the clouds, these two very human themes are part of what makes the topic of the spiritualist movement very important to me—it isn't the excitement of potentially talking to ghosties from the other side, it's the timeless search for genuine answers that affect humans of all cultures.

Visitors to the branch may notice that there seems to be multiple themes in the selections. Spiritualism and Theosophy are to be the two main collections. These two systems are related though separate in that, while both used spiritual guidance from those on other planes of existence, spiritualists believed that these people were deceased, while theosophists believed they corresponded with ascended masters. Using these two main collections as a “hook,” I'll also be delving into some of the related texts on “otherworld” or “paranormal” topics that also became popular up through the turn of the 20th century.  The Blavatsky branch may very well become its own entity, growing and changing, adopting and adapting, just as the spiritualist, theosophical and other occult movements of the 19th century did.  And, I must say quite humbly, I'm positively giddy at the prospect.

The Curatrix is also in the habit of issuing regular bulletins on the branch and its doings, the which shall in the future appear in this space under the title of “News from Adocentyn”

gentlebeings, your servant

JJ Drinkwater

One of the main tributary streams that flows into the broad, sweeping river of Caledon Culture, is the literary genre, visual aesthetic, and technogeekistologickal sensibility of Steampunk.  The Caledon library has, these last some several months, been diligently researching and preparing the materials for a collection dedicated to this beloved and absorbing subject.

Curators Alice Burgess and Turing Weyland have sought out works and references, both authoritative and extraordinary, to inform, enlighten, and delight the serious seeker after knowledge and the debonair dilettante alike. One fruit of their labours, a list of reference links on this topic, is to be seen in the Caledon Library Reading Room, in VictoriaCity, under the Direction of Reference Curator Miss Teofila Matova.  Further indications of this immense undertaking may be seen, here, on Mr Weyland's Page-Flake, Chock full o' Steam.  Visitors to Caledon may look to see the collection installed on the 4th floor of the Whitehorn Library, in Caledon VictoriaCity, early in the coming year. 

In the meantime, we are proud to present the Aetheric Musings upon all things Boiler-Powered, Intricately-Cogged, Brass-Plated, Diverse, and Appealingly Over-Engineered , of Curator Turing Weyland: The Steampunk Lexicon

Gentlebeings, your servant

JJ Drinkwater