C. W. Leadbeater (1854-1934), a leading figure in the Theosophical Society, first published this book in 1899; this fifth edition appeared in 1935 for the Society's Diamond Jubilee. He presents clairvoyance as physical rather than supernatural, and describes its many different manifestations, including unintentional premonitions and 'seeing' the past.

Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854-1934), ordained an Anglican priest in 1879, developed interests in spiritualism and occultism (then highly fashionable), and by the mid-1880s was a leading figure in the recently-founded Theosophical Society. He travelled to India, North America and eventually Australia on the Society's business, his influence only temporarily dented by a furore in 1906-8 involving allegations of child abuse. Leadbeater believed he was clairvoyant, and his many writings include this book, first published in 1899 and reissued here in a fifth edition marking the Theosophical Society's Diamond Jubilee in 1935. Leadbeater primarily addresses readers convinced of the existence of clairvoyance and familiar with theosophical terms. He argues that the 'power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight' is an extension of normal perception, and describes a wide range of phenomena including intentional and unintentional clairvoyance, premonitions, telepathy, and 'seeing' the past and the future.