Ronald Pearsall, who has died aged 77, was a literary jack-of-all-trades, writing on matters as diverse as antique dolls and the history of monarchy as well as publishing children's books, thrillers and even pornography; he was best known, however, as a historian of Victorian sub-culture.
In his book The Worm in the Bud (1969, the title a quotation from Twelfth Night: "But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud, Feed on her damask cheek") Pearsall investigated the often seamy reality behind the Victorian "whited sepulchre" ideal of sexuality.
Pearsall was also the author of The Table Rappers (1972), an examination of "the Victorian passion for the occult, revealing a colourful world of tricksters, charlatans and entrepreneurs, including venomous mediums who sabotaged each others' seances."
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:42 PM