Light for All-Devoted to the Growth, Attainment and Perfection of the Philosophy of Modern Spiritualism

Item Details

Light for All- Devoted to the Growth, Attainment and Perfection of the Philosophy of Modern Spiritualism, A.S. Winchester, Light for All Pub. Co., San Francisco, California, 1880. 16 x 11.5 inches, 8pp. 

Newspaper in very good condition. Previously folded horizontally. Slight edge wear and toning. 1 inch tear to margin of page 3.

Very first issue (and last?) of "Light for All" a spiritual newspaper published in San Francisco in 1880 with the by-line, "Devoted to the Growth, Attainment and Perfection of the Philosophy of Modern Spiritualism." Published by "Light for All" Publishing Company, A.S. Winchester Manager. 

In his introductory column titled "
TO THE FRIENDS OF SPIRITUALISM ON THE PACIFIC COAST:" Winchester writes, "Fully believing that our cause needs advancement in this portion of the globe, and knowing there is no more perfect means of promoting intelligence than by the use of the powerful lever of the press, we have concluded to make an effort to establish a paper in this city, devoted solely to perfecting OUR RELIGION. We know there is a good field on this Coast, but the forces are scattered, and it will require time to collect them and centralize their energies on the main points we propose to advocate and uphold, viz: the living of the spirit beyond the so-called death..."

Much of the paper is devoted to printing a lecture by Emma Hardinge Britten titled "The Signs of the Times" which runs 4 full columns. This is followed by an additional page describing a seance which took place after Britten's lecture.
The seance was held by Mrs. Foye, " Mrs. Foye gave a seance as follows (the communications are written in air, written through the medium's hand, spoken to her clairaudiently, and rapped out through the table, four different phases of mediumship through one medium)".

Also of note are the various ads for soul readings, telepathy, electric healing, psycho-phrenological mediums, clairvoyants and more. 

We could find no trace of this newspaper and suspect if was a short-lived endeavor but worthy of more research.