Bishop, W[ashington] Irving | A peculiar life, and a more peculiar death

Bishop, W[ashington] Irving 

Baptist Church…Exposing and Explaining…Spiritualism! New York: Metropolitan Print, [1876]

Broadside (630 x 250 mm). Numerous fonts, central image of Bishop performing his act, accompanied by a spectator and a spirit; old folds, some browning, numerous stains and burn holes costing a few letters. Framed and glazed with Plexiglas; not examined out of frame.  

"The First and World Eminent Mind Reader."

Bishop was born in 1856, and died in 1889. According to Jay, Bishop's "act was peculiar. His habits were peculiar. His family was peculiar. His death was most peculiar" (LP&FW 157). On 12 May 1889, while performing at the Lamb Club in New York, Bishop fell unconscious. He was promptly taken to one of the club's bedrooms, where he reportedly lapsed into a coma, and died the following day. Bishop, however, frequently experienced cataleptic fits, and could remain in a trance state for hours on end. Because of his condition, Bishop carried a card on his person, stating that no autopsy should be performed on his body until at least after 48 hours after falling into such a state. Bishop's mother, Eleanor, demanded a coroner's inquest, accusing the physician who carried out the autopsy of murder. The aforementioned card was never found on Bishop's body. 

REFERENCE:

Exemplars, pp. 188; LP&FW, pp. 156-64