Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900 (Spirit),
Oscar Wilde from purgatory, 1926.
– OCLC Connexion (Library of Congress authority file)
Recently I started a job that requires me to do some work with the Library of Congress database, using a program called OCLC Connexion. While generally as efficient as it is grey and austere, I was delighted to learn about one of its features that is not readily known to the general public.
Did you know that the Library of Congress (LC), which sets the standard of all library catalogs across the land, has a classification for ghost writers? And when I say “ghost writers,” I don’t mean your typical words-for-cash ghost writer, I mean actual ghosts! You see, cataloged along with all of its many bona fide authors, is a whole genre of works written by “authors” who are long dead. So, for instance, typing in the “personal name” — “pn: spirit” — into an authority record search brings up a whole genre of works “penned” by the long since dead in the recent present (relatively speaking).
Veteran Crasstalker Lucky had an interesting theory about this genre of writing, having recently read This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust. Based on her reading of Gilpin Faust, Lucky suggests that spirit authorship might derive from the Civil War era, which changed the way the Americans viewed death and dying. She said, and I quote:
“Around that time there was a wave of spiritualism (even Mary Todd Lincoln got into it after the deaths of Willie and the President). Stuff like books/articles “transcribed” from the voices of the dead weren’t unusual, and there were a lot more claims of contact.”
This idea makes some sense, and there are a lot of published works from the “spirits” of famous American authors, deriving from this general period (post-Civil War era); we see a number of works attributed to the “spirit” of Abraham Lincoln, for example. It is even possible that the Library of Congress created this category in its library records to accommodate the sizeable body of “writing” that had been published at this time and that this has simply been carried over into the computer age.
What ever its origins, it is clear by looking through the hundreds of “authors” listed in the authority records on OCLC that lots of books have been and still are being published under this rubric. It doesn’t look like it will stop any time soon!
I compiled a list of records for your entertainment below, including cited authors along with titles and dates when available. However, most of the interesting material derives from the “source data” field, an OCLC field meant to account for the source of a given work.
As one might imagine, the justifications in this field could get interesting. This is because it is here you find references to how the work was “received,” “channeled,” “conducted,” etc.; that is, this data field accounts for how information, thoughts, new ideas, entire plays, musical compositions, etc. are supposedly transferred from the world of the dead to the world of the living.
It gives a whole new meaning to the term ghost writer; or perhaps it maintains an earlier precedent. Whatever the case, it makes for delightful reading and seeing this category authenticated within the strict and efficient boundaries of an OCLC authority record pleases me and makes my new job that much more entertaining.
Examples of spirit authors and their works in the Library of Congress database:
Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 (Spirit)
The great mystery of life beyond death / [recorded by] Hiralal L. Kaji.
Transcript of the communication, recorded on ouija board, received from the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1869-1930, author and spiritualist (Ahmedabad, 1983).
Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955 (Spirit)
Einstein returns, 1982: (Albert Einstein, conversation with spirit conducted by Robert R. Leichtman).
Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948 (Spirit)
Charles H. Hapgood papers, 1898-1979 (conversation between Charles H. Hapgood and the spirit of Gandhi, through mediumship, July 2, 1972)
Garcia, Jerry, 1942-1995 (Spirit)
In the spirit: conversations with the spirit of Jerry Garcia, 1999.
Garland, Judy (Spirit)
My life over the rainbow, 1987: Judy Garland related through the mediumship of Lorna Smith.
Gautama Buddha (Spirit)
Quietly comes the Buddha, 1977 (Guatama Buddha, Lord of the World; appeared to Messenger Elizabeth Claire Prophet in 1975).
Laozi (Spirit)
The Tao of Lao Tzu, 1988 (by Lao Tzu as channeled through the medium Francis).
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 (Spirit) and Richmond, Cora L.V.; 1840-1923
Synopsis of the address given by Abraham Lincoln through the instrumentality of Mrs. Cora L.V. Richmond. At the regular services of the Church of the Soul, Sunday, Feb. 13, 1910 (Chicago).
Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint (Spirit)
Mary’s message to the world, 1991: (sent by Mary, the mother of Jesus, received by Annie Kirkwood).
Moses (Biblical leader: Spirit)
Shin Moze Reikunshu, 1989.
Picasso, Pablo 1881-1973 (Spirit)
Pikaso Reijishu, 1988.
Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950 (Spirit).
a New Comedy in Three Acts with Preface / by Bernard Shaw; written from the Spirit World and transmitted through his mortal wife, the medium Patricia Shaw (Toronto, 1962).
Tutankhamen, King of Egypt (Spirit),
King Tut’s reality, 1990 (channeled by Ronald Kaufmann from his twin-ray brother, King Tut).
