Quotes:Coleman, William Emmette

Boris de Zirkoff

Coleman, William Emmette. American author and lecturer, b. at Shadwell, Va., June 19, 1843. As a boy of twelve, was assistant librarian in the Richmond Public Library, and at sixteen became interested in various reformatory movements of the country and became a Spiritualist. For a time he was a stage manager and actor; later was reconstruction clerk at the military headquarters at Richmond, and after 1874 held a civilian position in the quartermaster's department, U.S. Army. Settled in San Francisco in 1880. Lectured widely on scientific subjects and was especially interested in Oriental religions and languages, publishing a large number of papers. He also wrote two extended works: Darwinism and Spiritualism (1877), and Spiritualism-Cui Bono? (1878), in an attempt to place Spiritualism on a scientific basis. For some peculiar reason, Coleman opposed Theosophy and H. P. Blavatsky from the very first, and published a number of articles trying to expose H.P.B. as a literary fraud. It appears that he was preparing a larger work for publication, Theosophy Unveiled, intended to be a complete analysis of it as a mere humbug; but no such work has ever been published. While a few of Coleman's strictures have some small justification in fact, and cannot be completely rejected, his arguments are shallow and his facts often confused.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 1, pp. 449-450