La Vie Mystérieuse - Prof. Donato [pseudoniem van Alfred É. d'Hont (1845–1900)] - 1909-1911

The first three years of the magazine "La Vie Mystérieuse" [a journal for practitioners and enthusiasts of Magic, Astrology, Cartomancy, Chiromancy, Graphology, Spiritualism, Magnetism.

Editorial collective under the direction of Professor Donato et al. - La Vie Mystérieuse: Magic, Astrology, Cartomancy, Chiromancy, Graphology, Spiritualism, Magnetism - bi-monthly publication appearing on the 10th and the 25th - Paris, the Editorial Team of La Vie Mystérieuse - Total of 1,168 pages – Binding: half cloth with marbled boards (grouping the annual bound collections of the original pamphlet editions) – 22.5x28 cm – A typical issue consistently accounts for 14 to 16 pages – Good condition: signs of wear and use on the covers, yellowing of the book body due to time (other details: see below).
The lot includes the first 73 issues of the magazine “La Vie Mystérieuse” (73 of 132 issues):
First volume:
- First year - no. 1 0 = from January 1909 to no. 24 (published December 25, 1909) – 400 pages. – Note: issue 15 is absent from this binding but appears as the first issue in the second binding. The corresponding pages were added to the first volume.
- Included in the same binding: January 10, 1910 – no. 25 – 16 pages.
Second binding/volume:
- Issue 15 of the first volume (1909) (see above)
- Second year – from no. 26 (January 25, 1910) to no. 48 (published December 25, 1910) – 368 pages. – Note: the pages corresponding to no. 25 (2nd year!) were added to the first volume.
Third binding/book :
- Third year - no. 49 = January 10, 1911 up to and including no. 72, published December 25, 1911 – 384 pages. – Note: the issue dated January 10, 1912, bearing no. 73 ("Fourth year" – 16 pages), is the last to appear in this bound volume.
* Alfred Edouard D'Hont (1845–1900), alias Professor Donato, was a Belgian magnetizer famous for the spectacular demonstrations he gave across Europe in the 1870s and 1880s. He founded and was editor-in-chief of *La Vie Mystérieuse*, a popular magazine devoted to occultism and esotericism, published in Paris during the Belle Époque (132 issues in total were published; the first appeared on January 10, 1909 and the last on June 25, 1914 — three days before the assassination of the Austrian throne heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo, an event that marked the start of World War I and the end of the publication).
After D'Hont's death, his circle or successors continued publication under the same title, *La Vie Mystérieuse*.
* “La Vie Mystérieuse” was a biweekly magazine dedicated to magnetism, magic, spiritism, astrology, chiromancy, graphology and cartomancy.
* Donato led this magazine alongside other prominent occultists of the time, notably Papus (Dr. Gérard Encausse) and Hector Durville.
* Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (1865–1916), better known as Papus, was a French physician and occultist. He was one of the flamboyant figures of the Belle Époque. (Source: IAPSOP/Wikipedia)
* Hector Durville (1849–1923) was a French occultist and magnetizer. He was editor-in-chief of the magazine “Journal du magnétisme,” founded by Baron du Potet. He founded several occult-related institutions in Paris, including “l’école pratique de massage et de magnétisme” and “the Eudiaque order, initiatory spiritual society.”

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