The Book of Spirits

Closing the First Chapter of the first edition of Revista Espírita, Kardec mentions the publication of The Book of Spirits, bringing to light a very interesting and sensible article published in Paris courier, of June 11, 1857, as well as some letters addressed to him, thanking him for the consoling work presented in that work. It is interesting to note how the press, at the time, cited such events without the great need to criticize them without foundation, as we often see today.

Reading the admirable responses of the Spirits in the work of Mr. Kardec, we told ourselves that there would be a beautiful book to write. We quickly recognized that we had been wrong: the book is already written. We would only spoil it if we tried to complete it.

G. Du Chalard – Paris courier, of June 11, 1857

Kardec ends up talking about how the Book was created, in its first edition, largely with the help of the Baudin sisters. After the first edition, it was recommended by the Spirits themselves to carry out a review of the work. It is important to highlight that Kardec always sought to confirm the answers obtained mainly by intuitive mediums with mechanical mediums, where the influence of the medium would be less or non-existent. In addition, on the more complicated issues, he sought a greater number of “opinions”, asking the same question to different spirits, through mediums everywhere. This is the well-known Universal Concordance of the Teachings of the Spirits.