James Charles Napier Webb (13 January 1946 – 9 May 1980) was a Scottish historian and biographer. He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and was educated at Harrow and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He is remembered primarily for his books ''The Harmonious Circle'', ''The Occult Underground'' (originally titled ''Flight from Reason''), and ''The Occult Establishment''. In 1980 his important biography of G. I. Gurdjieff, titled ''The Harmonious Circle'', was published. He spent 8 years researching the book, making contacts with the Gurdjieff community worldwide. The New York Review of Books described Webb's research and knowledge of the subject as "extremely comprehensive", and Mistlberger described the book as "scholarly and occasionally gossipy" with Webb being "unquestionably a sincere researcher" who became "deeply involved in the matter of his subject" while remaining "fundamentally an outsider, an investigative journalist". Tamdgidi wrote that, amongst all the biographers of Gurdjieff, "only Webb claimed to have been independent and outside the circle of Gurdjieff's followers", and in 2004, in ''Inventors of Gurdjieff'', Paul Beekman Taylor described ''The Harmonious Circle'' as "the first systematic biographical account by a writer who hadn't known Gurdjieff personally" Webb established that Gurdjieff's writings revealed substantial evidence of familiarity with the languages and cultures of central Asia, but Webb regarded Gurdjieff more as a self-taught innovator than a member of an esoteric Asiatic group, and, although seeing some of its forms having derived from Asia, saw the content of his teachings deriving from western occult traditions. Webb's theories of Gurdjieff's identity as a Russian foreign agent in Central Asia, and theories on where he actually travelled before 1917, are considered controversial points in ''The Harmonious Circle''. Webb's work challenges theories of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

, theories of decline in organised religion and

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

. Webb argued that the 19th and 20th centuries had also been marked by a revolt against the Enlightenment, and that the rise of ''irrationalism'' was much more marked than the rise of rationalism, especially before, during and after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Webb traced the influence of

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

and

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

groups and writers on literature, philosophy and politics. Webb was generally ignored in his lifetime, but with the increasing rise of

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

spirituality in later years, his work now seems increasingly prescient. After increasing mental health difficulties, Webb committed suicide in 1980.

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (15 January 195329 August 2012) was a British historian and professor of Western esotericism at the University of Exeter, best known for his authorship of several scholarly books on the history of Germany between the W ...

has lauded him as a serious researcher of occultism: "By focusing on functional significance of occultism in political irrationalism, Webb rescued the study of

Nazi occultism The association of Nazism with occultism occurs in a wide range of theories, speculation, and research into the origins of Nazism and into Nazism's possible relationship with various occult traditions. Such ideas have flourished as a part of popu ...

for the

history of ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual histor ...

." His major works ''The Occult Underground'' and ''The Occult Establishment'' were translated into German and published in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

established the "James Webb Prize for the History of Ideas" in his memory.Trinity College, History Subject Notes

Selected works

*''Flight from Reason'' (1971) MacDonald & Co., London **2nd ed.: ''The Occult Underground'' (1974) Open Court Publishing. *''The Occult Establishment: The Dawn of the New Age and The Occult Establishment'' (1976) Open Court Publishing. *''The Harmonious Circle: The Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspensky, and Their Followers'' (1980) Putnam Publishing. *''Das Zeitalter des Irrationalen: Politik, Kultur und Okkultismus im 20. Jahrhundert'' – German translation of ''The Occult Establishment'' (2008) Marix Verlag.

References

External links

* * Gary Lachman
The Damned: the strange death of James Webb
Fortean Times, September 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, James 1946 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Scottish historians Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British historians of religion People educated at Harrow School Researchers of new religious movements and cults Suicides by firearm in Scotland Suicides in Scotland Western esotericism scholars 1980 suicides

Selected works

Further reading

References

External links