John Silence: Physician Extraordinary was published by Eveleigh Nash in 1908 and became Blackwood’s biggest commercial success — selling over a million copies in its various editions. Dr. John Silence is an independently wealthy physician who has devoted himself to the study and treatment of psychic disturbances: patients haunted by entities, afflicted by curses, or simply overwhelmed by supernatural sensitivity.
The collection contains five cases, each a novella-length investigation: “A Psychical Invasion” (a writer tormented by malevolent forces in his flat), “Ancient Sorceries” (a man who wanders into a French town that practices lycanthropy), “The Nemesis of Fire” (an Egyptian elemental threatening a country house), “Secret Worship” (a man returning to his former school to find it possessed by diabolism), and “The Camp of the Dog” (a werewolf manifestation on a wilderness island).
Silence is not a Van Helsing figure — he does not battle evil with crosses and stakes — but a healer who approaches supernatural phenomena with compassion and curiosity. His method combines scientific observation with spiritual understanding: he does not deny the reality of the supernatural but attempts to understand its laws. The character influenced all subsequent psychic investigators in fiction, from Hodgson’s Carnacki to contemporary paranormal investigators.
Collecting John Silence
First edition (Eveleigh Nash, London, 1908): Cloth binding.
Market values:
- First edition, fine: $300–$800
- Very good: $100–$300
- Blackwood’s bestseller — relatively common in later editions