author
John Delafield
1812–1866
Best known for two unusual nineteenth-century works, this American writer explored both the ancient past of the Americas and the hidden side of spiritual belief. His books have the curious, wide-ranging feel of a reader following big questions wherever they lead.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in 1812 and living until 1866, John Delafield was an American writer remembered today for a small but distinctive body of work. Surviving records connect him with the Delafield family, and library and bookselling catalogs consistently identify him as the author of An Inquiry Into the Origin of the Antiquities of America (1839) and Mysticism and its Results (1857).
Those two books show the range of his interests. In the earlier work, he turned to the origins of American antiquities and the history of ancient peoples in the Americas. Later, in Mysticism and its Results, he examined secrecy, spiritual ideas, and the effects of mystical systems in a more reflective and argumentative style.
That combination makes him an interesting figure for modern listeners: not a household name, but a writer drawn to large, searching subjects. His work offers a window into the curiosity of the nineteenth century, when questions about history, religion, and hidden knowledge often overlapped in surprising ways.