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M. de Lausanne — sometimes known in the 19th and 20th century Anglophone magnetic literature as «Chevalier de Lausanne» — is the literary pseudonym under which Alexandre André Victor Sarrazin de Montferrier (Paris, 31 August 1792 — Argenteuil, 13 March 1863) signed his magnetic work. A mathematician, liberal journalist and Marquis of Montferrier, Sarrazin is one of the cardinal figures of the second generation of French magnetism, the one that resumed the work of Mesmer and Puységur after the long interruption of the Revolution and published, between 1814 and 1820, the first systematic syntheses of the magnetic doctrinal body in the French language.

Marco Paret, in the History of Hypnotism, Animal Magnetism and Instant Healings, places him among the four pillars of the magnetic practice of the School, specifically attributing to him the teaching of magnetic sensitivity — the refined ability to perceive the currents of the vital fluid inside and outside one's own body. «From de Lausanne we can learn the importance of sensitivity», writes Paret, alongside the «power of the touch charged with will» (Puységur), the «higher types of magnetism» (Du Potet) and the «importance of concentration» (Lafontaine).

I. The denomination «Chevalier de Lausanne» in the Anglophone tradition

The denomination «Chevalier de Lausanne» — used by Marco Paret and received in the European magnetic tradition of the School — appears in the 19th-20th century Anglophone magnetic literature that cited Lausanne among the early mesmerists of the French school. Its origin is almost certainly Anglo-Saxon editorial: English and American authors, accustomed to translating the «M.» (French abbreviation for «Monsieur») with aristocratic titles of respect, likely rendered the name as «Chevalier de Lausanne» analogous to the Anglophone use of «Sieur de» or «Chevalier de» for names of the French Ancien Régime.

In the original title pages of Sarrazin de Montferrier's books — as well as in the catalogs of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Wellcome Collection — «Chevalier» never appears:

  • Title page Élémens (1818): «Par A. de Lausanne, l'un des fondateurs de la Société du Magnétisme de Paris»
  • Title page Des principes et des procédés (1819): «Par M. de Lausanne, l'un des fondateurs de la Société du Magnétisme de Paris»
  • BnF Gallica catalog (DC.creator metadata of the 1819 book): «Sarrazin de Montferrier, Alexandre (1792-1863). Auteur du texte»
  • Wellcome Collection (London), catalog entry Élémens 1818: «Par Mr. de Lausanne [i.e. A.A.V.S. de Montferrier]»

The philological conclusion is therefore that «Chevalier de Lausanne» and «M. de Lausanne» indicate the same person — Alexandre Sarrazin de Montferrier — with the denomination «Chevalier» having entered the magnetic tradition through Anglophone editorial channels. The alternative hypothesis of an initiatic title from Freemasonry — even in the form «Chevalier Bienfaisant de la Cité Sainte» of the Rectified Scottish Rite, surviving in Switzerland in the Grand Prieuré d'Helvétie — does not hold: initiatic titles are not used in society nor do they appear on the title pages of public books, and in none of the verified period sources does the character bear such an appellation in his public context.

Marco Paret in the History of Hypnotism maintains the denomination «Chevalier de Lausanne» as preserved in the received European magnetic tradition, distinct from the editorial denomination «M. de Lausanne» of the original title pages.

II. The plural figure of Sarrazin de Montferrier

Sarrazin de Montferrier is a surprisingly plural figure, intertwining in a single biography animal magnetism, encyclopedic mathematics and the liberal journalism of the Restoration:

  • Founder of the Annales du magnétisme animal (1814-1816) — the first French magnetic journal of the Restoration era, in 40 issues, in which he also published Brice de Beauregard
  • Director of the Archives du magnétisme animal — a series of extracts from the best magnetic authors «formant un corps de doctrine» (announced on the title page of his books and published in 1820 by Barrois)
  • One of the founders of magnetism in Paris in the second generation, together with Beauregard, Puységur (elderly) and before Du Potet (active from around 1820)
  • Founding member of the Société du Magnétisme de Paris (so reads the title page of his books: «l'un des fondateurs de la Société du Magnétisme de Paris»)
  • Mathematician: author of the Dictionnaire des sciences mathématiques pures et appliquées (3 vols., 1834-40) and the Encyclopédie mathématique (1856) — the most extensive mathematical work of the first half of the 19th century in France
  • Liberal journalist: founder of L'Ultra, L'Oracle français (1820), L'Ère nouvelle (1831), director of La Tribune populaire (1848)
  • Historical-literary link: it was in his house that Juliette Drouet brought Victor Hugo before the flight to Brussels during the coup d'état of 2 December 1851

The identification «de Lausanne = Sarrazin de Montferrier» is publicly documented in the catalogs of the Wellcome Collection (London), BnF Gallica and in the French Wikipedia entry dedicated to the author, which explicitly lists the 1819 work «sous le pseudonyme de M. de Lausanne».

III. The reference to Bruno in Lausanne's thought

Marco Paret in the History of Hypnotism reports that Lausanne «described the method created by a certain Bruno» — a pre-Mesmeric magnetist identified by antiquarian catalogs as Bruno (De), «introducteur des ambassadeurs du Comte d'Artois», author of a manuscript from 1785 (or 1788) entitled Des procédés du magnétisme et de leur rapports avec les loix de la phisique et de la physiologie.

Philological verification on the published texts 1818-1819: the systematic reading via full OCR (Internet Archive `b2933102x` for 1819 — 23,913 lines containing both volumes — and Archive.org `b30378199` for 1818 — 5,493 lines) of the two printed treatises by Sarrazin de Montferrier gave a clear result:

  • Zero occurrences of the name «Bruno» in any spelling
  • Zero occurrences of terms related to the Bruno manuscript («introducteur», «ambassadeur», «Comte d'Artois»)
  • The Chapitre VI of Tome 2 1819 («Coup-d'œil sur l'histoire du Magnétisme») starts the history from Mesmer in Vienna 1779 without mentioning pre-Mesmeric magnetists
  • OCR integrity check: Mesmer, Puysegur and Deleuze are cited 147 times in the two volumes of 1819, therefore the OCR is functional and the book is complete

However — the antiquarian catalog of bibliorare.com explicitly states that the Bruno manuscript «a été publié en partie pour la première fois en 1819 par Alexandre Sarrasin de Montferrier (M. de Lausanne)». Sarrazin's publication would therefore have been non-literal — a reformulation of the manuscript's content without explicit attribution and without the name of Bruno.

It remains to be verified the «Bruno» trail in the other textual corpora of Lausanne not yet examined:

  • Annales du magnétisme animal (1814-1816), 40 issues published by J.G. Dentu
  • Archives du magnétisme animal — series of extracts compiled by Lausanne

These two corpora, cited on the title page of the 1819 book but not yet found in full OCR format, may contain the explicit reference to Bruno that did not enter the 1818-1819 treatises. Research on the two texts is ongoing.

IV. The magnetic method according to Lausanne

The magnetic method described by Lausanne in his published books (1818, 1819) — reported by Marco Paret in the History of Hypnotism as the «Bruno-Lausanne method» — follows a protocol in six steps:

  1. Establish contact through the thumb — the magnetizer's thumb touches an established contact point on the subject
  2. Maintain contact for the space of a few minutes — one does not immediately proceed to action, one waits for the contact to establish itself
  3. Exercise the active Will by centering attention on the subject — the will is the main operative instrument
  4. Proceed to the passes, performing them very slowly along the arms, and in front of the body from the head to the feet (or at least to the knees). The passes are slow movements near the body without direct physical contact
  5. Progressively move away from the subject continuing the passes at a thumb's distance, maintaining only sufficient tension of the hands to keep them in position
  6. Passing the hands in front of the patient at a distance of 3-4 inches, the magnetizer will perceive a sensation of heat or cold. When at the level of the affected part, his body exhales a certain vapor — i.e., fluid — that goes in the direction of the affected part

Key point: the method is technically precise and diagnostic — the magnetizer perceives in his own body the patient's areas of suffering through thermal and sensory variations. The magnetic fluid «exhales» from the magnetizer's body towards the suffering area.

V. The development of magnetic sensitivity

Lausanne in his 1819 treatise — and in the 1818 manual — insists on the development of magnetic sensitivity:

«The psychical qualifications of a Magnetiser would have to be developed in order to carry this process out in the true spirit of the method. Specifically you must develop the magnetic gaze and the sensitivity» (paraphrase by Paret from Lausanne's 1819 text).

The two axes of the magnetizer's development according to Lausanne:

  • Magnetic gaze (the «charged» gaze) — the magnetizer must be able to transfer his will through the gaze
  • Sensitivity (the ability to perceive) — the magnetizer must develop a refined perception of the magnetic currents inside and outside his own body

These two axes correspond to the two poles of the magnetic practice of the School: active projection (will-gaze) and passive-perceptive reception (sensitivity-diagnosis).

VI. Three phenomena of the magnetic method

Lausanne describes three recurring phenomena of the magnetic method in his books:

  1. Phenomenon of the magnetizer's sensitivity — the magnetizer's body «responds» to the patient's areas of suffering
  2. Phenomenon of fluidic exhalation — the magnetic fluid «exhales» from the magnetizer's body towards the affected area
  3. Phenomenon of distance — magnetism acts also at a distance (a few inches from the body), it does not require direct contact

VII. The magnetic works of Sarrazin de Montferrier

The complete magnetic work of Sarrazin de Montferrier alias M. de Lausanne, in chronological order:

  1. Annales du magnétisme animal (Paris, J.G. Dentu, 1814-1816) — 40 issues, first French magnetic journal of the Restoration. Sarrazin is its founder and main editor. The complete collection consists of 48 fascicles for the three years
  2. «Essais sur la découverte de Mesmer» — series of articles published in the Annales du magnétisme animal, issues 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. Lausanne himself in the 1819 book explicitly cites these his «Essais» as a source for the exposition of the Mesmerian system (Tome 1, p. 19, footnote)
  3. Bibliothèque du magnétisme animal (Paris, J.G. Dentu, from 1817) — editorial continuation of the journal, published monthly in fascicles of 96-100 pages. Cited on the 1819 title page
  4. Élémens du magnétisme animal, ou Exposition succincte des procédés, des phénomènes, et de l'emploi du magnétisme (Paris, J.G. Dentu, 1818) — short manual in V-56 pages, signed «par A. de Lausanne»
  5. Des principes et des procédés du magnétisme animal, et de leurs rapports avec les lois de la physique et de la physiologie (Paris, J.G. Dentu, 1819) — major work in 2 volumes, signed «par M. de Lausanne, l'un des fondateurs de la Société du Magnétisme de Paris»
  6. Archives du magnétisme animal (Paris, Barrois l'aîné, 1820) — sixth magnetic work, Recueil d'extraits des meilleurs ouvrages publiés depuis la découverte du Magnétisme, formant un corps de doctrine. Announced on the 1819 title page and published the following year

VIII. Historical placement: the «second generation» of French magnetism (1810-1830)

Sarrazin de Montferrier belongs to the second generation of French magnetism, the one that resumed the work of Mesmer and Puységur after the interruption of the French Revolution and that published the first systematic syntheses of the magnetic doctrinal body. Chronologically:

  • First generation (1780-1789): Mesmer, D'Eslon, Bergasse, Puységur, Tardy de Montravel, Pététin
  • Second generation (1810-1830): Sarrazin de Montferrier / M. de Lausanne, Deleuze (old Puységur active), Brice de Beauregard, before Du Potet
  • Third generation (1840-1880): Du Potet, Lafontaine, Cahagnet, Charpignon, Lafontaine

IX. Lausanne's method in the ISI-CNV School

Marco Paret in the History of Hypnotism attributes to Lausanne the central teaching of magnetic sensitivity in his own school of transmission.

«From de Lausanne we can learn the importance of sensitivity» (Paret, History of Hypnotism). The four pillars of the magnetic practice of the ISI-CNV School, according to Paret, are:

  • From Lausanne — the importance of sensitivity (the ability to perceive magnetic currents)
  • From Puységur — the power of the touch charged with will (the thumb and magnetic contact activated by the will)
  • From Du Potet — the higher types of magnetism (the extended phenomenologies of magnetism, magical-spiritual applications, magnetism at a distance, action on the mind)
  • From Lafontaine — the importance of concentration (mental concentration as a multiplier of magnetic force)

X. The network of Parisian magnetists around Sarrazin de Montferrier (1814-1820)

Sarrazin de Montferrier is not an isolated figure, but belongs to a documentable network of Parisian magnetists of the Restoration:

  • Société du Magnétisme de Paris — founded around 1814, of which Sarrazin is «one of the founders» (title page)
  • Brice de Beauregard — collaborator of the Annales du magnétisme animal
  • Deleuze — the great figure of the second generation, author of the Histoire critique du magnétisme animal (1813)
  • Puységur — elderly (1751-1825), still active in 1814-1820
  • Charles Philip of France, Count of Artois (future Charles X) — recipient of the dedication of Tome 1 of Lausanne's 1819 book

Sources

Verified primary documentary sources

Primary sources to be verified

  • Annales du magnétisme animal (1814-1816), J.G. Dentu, Paris, 40 issues — founded and directed by Sarrazin de Montferrier (not yet found in full OCR format)
  • Archives du magnétisme animal — series of extracts compiled by Lausanne (cited on the title page of the 1819 book)

Authoritative source for the doctrine

  • Marco Paret, History of Hypnotism, Animal Magnetism and Instant Healings (unpublished manuscript ISI-CNV) — sections on «The Chevalier de Lausanne and the importance of developing sensitivity» (4 occurrences of the reference)

Academic studies

  • Entry «Alexandre Sarrazin de Montferrier» on Wikipédia FR — complete bibliography
  • Wellcome Collection (London), entry Élémens du magnétisme animal 1818, explicit identification «Par Mr. de Lausanne [i.e. A.A.V.S. de Montferrier]»
  • Adam Crabtree, Animal Magnetism, Early Hypnotism, and Psychical Research, 1766-1925: An Annotated Bibliography, Kraus International, 1988

Bruno manuscript (antiquarian trade)

  • Manuscript Bruno (De) — Des procédés du magnétisme et de leur rapports avec les loix de la phisique et de la physiologie, par Mr. De Bruno, introducteur des Ambassadeurs près Monsieur, frère du Roi, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1785 (1788?), in-4° of 14-36-220 pages, half calf — bibliorare.com entry

See also

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