Pioneers of the Spiritual Reformation

Anna Mary Howitt Watts (1824–1884) was a painter and writer, and the daughter of William Howitt (1792–1879), one of the subjects of this double biography. Justinus Kerner (1786–1862) was an inspiration to both Howitt and his daughter. A German poet, trained as a doctor, he became famous both as a patron of the arts and an early pioneer of the spiritualist movement. This account of Kerner's life is full of vivid descriptions of ghostly apparitions and supernatural events. Howitt, a popular writer and radical local politician who was raised a Quaker, became increasingly attracted to spiritualism after the deaths of two of his sons. Watts' book, written after her father's death and first published in 1883, is more than a memoir of a beloved parent. As a record of the beliefs of the spiritualists it provides essential information about early Victorian attitudes to this world and beyond.