Mollie Fancher: the Brooklyn Enigma. An Authentic Statement of Facts in the Life of Mary J. Fancher, The Psychological Marvel of the Nineteenth Century.

DAILEY, Abram H. [Mollie Fancher].

$3,250.00

Item Number: 129342

Brooklyn: Eagle Book Printing Dept, 1894.

First edition of this work on Mollie Fancher. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Signed by Mollie Fancher on the title page. In very good condition. Books signed by Fancher are rare.

Mollie Fancher was among the most famous of the "fasting girls" of the late 19th century. At age 16, she was diagnosed with dyspepsia. At around the age of 19, reports came out that she had abstained from eating for seven weeks. It was after two accidents, in 1864 and 1865, that she became famous for her ability to abstain from food. As a result of the accidents, Mollie Fancher lost her ability to see, touch, taste, and smell. She claimed to have powers that involved her being able to predict events as well as to read without the ability of sight. By the late 1870s, she was claiming to eat little or nothing at all for many months. Her claim to abstinence from food lasted for 14 years. Doctors and people in the public began to question her abilities and wished to perform tests to determine the truthfulness of her claims. The claims to abstinence were never verified and she died in February 1916.