author

Joseph Taylor

1761–1844

Known for lively popular works on ghosts, health, and curious facts, this early 19th-century English writer had a knack for turning practical subjects and strange stories into accessible reading. His books range from herbal medicine and longevity to apparitions and old sayings, showing a broad curiosity about everyday life and popular belief.

2 Audiobooks

The danger of premature interment : Proved from many remarkable instances of people who have recovered after being laid out for dead, and of others entombed alive, for want of being properly examined prior to interment

The danger of premature interment : Proved from many remarkable instances of people who have recovered after being laid out for dead, and of others entombed alive, for want of being properly examined prior to interment

by Joseph Taylor

Apparitions; Or, The Mystery of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, and Haunted Houses Developed

Apparitions; Or, The Mystery of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, and Haunted Houses Developed

by Joseph Taylor

About the author

Joseph Taylor, listed by major library records as born in 1761 or 1762 and dying in 1844, was a prolific British author of practical and entertaining nonfiction. Surviving bibliographic records connect him with books on domestic herbal remedies, health and long life, premature burial, remarkable trees and plants, popular sayings, and supernatural tales.

One of his best-known works today is Apparitions; or, The Mystery of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, and Haunted Houses, Developed (1815), a collection aimed at examining and dispelling superstitious fears. That mix of curiosity and usefulness also appears in books such as Nature the Best Physician, Annals of Health and Long Life, and The Danger of Premature Interment.

Very little clearly confirmed biographical detail seems to survive beyond his dates and bibliography, so he is best understood through his writing: a wide-ranging compiler and explainer who wrote for general readers, especially those interested in health, natural history, folklore, and the unusual corners of everyday experience.