Ignatius Donnelly
Encyclopedia
Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (November 3, 1831 – January 1, 1901) was a U.S. Congressman, populist
writer and amateur scientist
, known primarily now for his theories concerning Atlantis
, Catastrophism
(especially the idea of an ancient impact event
affecting ancient civilizations), and Shakespearean authorship, all of which modern historians consider to be pseudoscience
and pseudohistory
. Donnelly's work had important influence on the writings of late 19th and early 20th century figures such as Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner
, and James Churchward
and has more recently influenced writer Graham Hancock
. Donnelly's concept of Atlantis as an antediluvian
civilization became the inspiration for the 1969 pop song hit Atlantis
by Donovan
and the 2009 film 2012
by Roland Emmerich
.
After starting as a peddler, Philip studied medicine at the Philadelphia College of Medicine. He later contracted typhus
from a patient and died at age 31, leaving his wife with five children.
Catherine provided for her children by operating a pawn shop. Ignatius, her youngest son, was admitted to the prestigious Central High School http://www.centralhigh.net/pages/about/history, the second oldest public high school in the United States. There he studied under the presidency of John S. Hart, excelling primarily in literature.
Donnelly then decided to become a lawyer, and became a clerk for Benjamin Brewster
, later Attorney-General of the United States. He was admitted to the bar in 1852. In 1855, he married Katherine McCaffrey, with whom he had three children. In 1855, he resigned his clerkship, entered politics and participated in communal home building schemes.
Becoming the object of rumors of financial scandal, he moved to the Minnesota
Territory in 1857, where he settled in Dakota County
. Together with several partners, Donnelly initiated a utopian community called Nininger City
. However, the Panic of 1857
doomed the attempt at a cooperative farm
and community and left Donnelly deeply in debt.
, 39th
, and 40th congresses
, (1863–1868) and a state senator from 1874 – 1878. As a legislator
, Donnelly advocated extending the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau to provide education for freedmen so that they could protect themselves once the bureau was withdrawn. Donnelly was also an early supporter of women's suffrage
. After leaving the Minnesota State Senate during 1878, Donnelly returned to his law practice and writing.
In 1882, Donnelly published Atlantis: The Antediluvian World
, his best known work. It details theories concerning the mythical lost continent of Atlantis
. The book sold well, and is widely credited with initiating the theme of Atlantis as an antediluvian
civilization that became such a feature of popular literature during the 20th century and contributed to the emergence of Mayanism
. Donnelly suggested that Atlantis, whose story was told by Plato
in the dialogues of Timaeus
and Critias
, had been destroyed during the same event remembered in the Bible as the Great Flood. Citing research on the ancient Maya civilization
by Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg
and Augustus Le Plongeon
, he believed it had been the place of a common origin of ancient civilizations in Africa (especially ancient Egypt
), Europe, and the Americas. He also thought that it had been the original home of an Aryan
race whose red-haired, blue-eyed descendants could be found in Ireland. Donnelly's theories about the location of Atlantis as a large land mass in the Atlantic Ocean and its destruction by sinking were eventually discarded with the advent of the theory of plate tectonics
in the late 1960s. However, they fueled the imagination of many individuals, among them Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner
, James Churchward
, Edgar Cayce
, and Graham Hancock
. The themes in his book are echoed by the plot of the 2009 film 2012
directed by Roland Emmerich
.
A year after Atlantis, he published Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
, in which he expounded his belief that the Flood, as well as the destruction of Atlantis (and the extinction of the mammoth), had been brought about by the near-collision of the earth with a massive comet. This book also sold well, and both books seem to have had an important influence on the development of Immanuel Velikovsky
's controversial ideas half a century later.
In 1888, he published The Great Cryptogram in which he proposed that Shakespeare's plays had been written by Francis Bacon
, an idea that was popular during the late 19th and early 20th century. He then travelled to England to arrange the English publication of his book by Sampson Low, speaking at the Oxford (and Cambridge) Union after which his thesis "Resolved, that the works of William Shakespeare were composed by Francis Bacon" was put to an unsuccessful vote. The book was a complete failure and Donnelly was discredited.
As well as writing, Donnelly made several other campaigns for public office during the 1880s. He made a losing campaign for Congress (this time as a Democrat
) in 1884. In 1887, he successfully campaigned for a seat in the Minnesota State Legislature as an Independent. During this period, he was also an organizer of the Minnesota Farmers' Alliance
.
In 1892, Donnelly wrote the preamble of the People's Party's Omaha Platform
for the presidential campaign of that year. He was nominated for Vice President of the United States during 1900 by the People's Party. Also known as the Populist Party, the People's Party was a development of the national Farmers' Alliance, and had a platform that demanded abandonment of the gold standard
(and later for free silver
), abolition of national bank
s, a graduated income tax, direct election of senators
, civil service reform, and an eight-hour day
. That year, Donnelly also campaigned for governor of Minnesota, but was defeated.
.
, Minnesota. The house was still standing in 1939, but the effort failed and the house has since been demolished.
A personal reminiscence of a visit to Nininger during the 1930s is available at the Sacred-Texts website
.
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
writer and amateur scientist
Fringe science
Fringe science is scientific inquiry in an established field of study that departs significantly from mainstream or orthodox theories, and is classified in the "fringes" of a credible mainstream academic discipline....
, known primarily now for his theories concerning Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
, Catastrophism
Catastrophism
Catastrophism is the theory that the Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. The dominant paradigm of modern geology is uniformitarianism , in which slow incremental changes, such as erosion, create the Earth's appearance...
(especially the idea of an ancient impact event
Impact event
An impact event is the collision of a large meteorite, asteroid, comet, or other celestial object with the Earth or another planet. Throughout recorded history, hundreds of minor impact events have been reported, with some occurrences causing deaths, injuries, property damage or other significant...
affecting ancient civilizations), and Shakespearean authorship, all of which modern historians consider to be pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
and pseudohistory
Pseudohistory
Pseudohistory is a pejorative term applied to a type of historical revisionism, often involving sensational claims whose acceptance would require rewriting a significant amount of commonly accepted history, and based on methods that depart from standard historiographical conventions.Cryptohistory...
. Donnelly's work had important influence on the writings of late 19th and early 20th century figures such as Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
, and James Churchward
James Churchward
James Churchward is best known as a British born occult writer. However, he was also a patented inventor, engineer, and expert fisherman....
and has more recently influenced writer Graham Hancock
Graham Hancock
Graham Hancock is a British writer and journalist. Hancock specialises in unconventional theories involving ancient civilizations, stone monuments or megaliths, altered states of consciousness, ancient myths and astronomical/astrological data from the past...
. Donnelly's concept of Atlantis as an antediluvian
Antediluvian
The antediluvian period meaning "before the deluge" is the period referred to in the Bible between the Creation of the Earth and the Deluge . The narrative takes up chapters 1-6 of Genesis...
civilization became the inspiration for the 1969 pop song hit Atlantis
Atlantis (song)
"Atlantis" is a folk-pop song written and recorded by Scottish singer Donovan. It was released as a single in 1968 and became a worldwide success; most notably in Austria, the United States and Germany, and in Switzerland where it became a number-one success in 1969 . In South Africa it peaked at...
by Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
and the 2009 film 2012
2012 (film)
2012 is a 2009 American disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich. It stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, and Woody Harrelson. It was produced by Emmerich's production company, Centropolis Entertainment and was distributed by Columbia Pictures...
by Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer.His films, most of which are Hollywood productions filmed in English, have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European director...
.
Early life and education
Donnelly was the son of an Irish immigrant, Philip Carrol Donnelly, who had settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On June 29, 1826, Philip married Catherine Gavin, a 2nd generation American of Irish ancestry.After starting as a peddler, Philip studied medicine at the Philadelphia College of Medicine. He later contracted typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
from a patient and died at age 31, leaving his wife with five children.
Catherine provided for her children by operating a pawn shop. Ignatius, her youngest son, was admitted to the prestigious Central High School http://www.centralhigh.net/pages/about/history, the second oldest public high school in the United States. There he studied under the presidency of John S. Hart, excelling primarily in literature.
Donnelly then decided to become a lawyer, and became a clerk for Benjamin Brewster
Benjamin Brewster
Benjamin Brewster was the Episcopal Bishop of Maine and Missionary Bishop of Western Colorado.-Early life:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of the Rev. Joseph Brewster and Sarah Jane Bunce...
, later Attorney-General of the United States. He was admitted to the bar in 1852. In 1855, he married Katherine McCaffrey, with whom he had three children. In 1855, he resigned his clerkship, entered politics and participated in communal home building schemes.
Becoming the object of rumors of financial scandal, he moved to the Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
Territory in 1857, where he settled in Dakota County
Dakota County, Minnesota
Dakota County is the third most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county is bordered by the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers on the north, and the state of Wisconsin on the east. Dakota County comprises the southeast portion of seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul, the thirteenth...
. Together with several partners, Donnelly initiated a utopian community called Nininger City
Nininger Township, Minnesota
This article is about the township. For the ghost town of the same name, see Nininger, MinnesotaNininger Township is a township in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 865 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. However, the Panic of 1857
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...
doomed the attempt at a cooperative farm
Cooperative farming
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative where farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity....
and community and left Donnelly deeply in debt.
Political and literary career
Donnelly entered politics and was lieutenant governor of Minnesota from 1860 – 1863. He was a Republican Congressman from Minnesota in the 38th38th United States Congress
-House of Representatives:Before this Congress, the 1860 United States Census and resulting reapportionment changed the size of the House to 241 members...
, 39th
39th United States Congress
The Thirty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1865 to March 4, 1867, during the first month of...
, and 40th congresses
40th United States Congress
The Fortieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1867 to March 4, 1869, during the third and fourth...
, (1863–1868) and a state senator from 1874 – 1878. As a legislator
Legislator
A legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
, Donnelly advocated extending the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau to provide education for freedmen so that they could protect themselves once the bureau was withdrawn. Donnelly was also an early supporter of women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
. After leaving the Minnesota State Senate during 1878, Donnelly returned to his law practice and writing.
In 1882, Donnelly published Atlantis: The Antediluvian World
Atlantis: The Antediluvian World
Atlantis: The Antediluvian World is a book published during 1882 by Minnesota populist politician Ignatius L. Donnelly, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during 1831...
, his best known work. It details theories concerning the mythical lost continent of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
. The book sold well, and is widely credited with initiating the theme of Atlantis as an antediluvian
Antediluvian
The antediluvian period meaning "before the deluge" is the period referred to in the Bible between the Creation of the Earth and the Deluge . The narrative takes up chapters 1-6 of Genesis...
civilization that became such a feature of popular literature during the 20th century and contributed to the emergence of Mayanism
Mayanism
Mayanism is a non-codified eclectic collection of New Age beliefs, influenced in part by Pre-Columbian Maya mythology and some folk beliefs of the modern Maya peoples...
. Donnelly suggested that Atlantis, whose story was told by Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
in the dialogues of Timaeus
Timaeus
Timaeus is a Greek name, meaning "Honour". It may refer to:*Timaeus , a Socratic dialogue by Plato*Timaeus of Locri, the 5th-century Pythagorean philosopher, appearing in Plato's dialogue...
and Critias
Critias
Critias , born in Athens, son of Callaeschrus, was an uncle of Plato, and a leading member of the Thirty Tyrants, and one of the most violent. He was an associate of Socrates, a fact that did not endear Socrates to the Athenian public. He was noted in his day for his tragedies, elegies and prose...
, had been destroyed during the same event remembered in the Bible as the Great Flood. Citing research on the ancient Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
by Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg
Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg
Abbé Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg was a noted French writer, ethnographer, historian and archaeologist...
and Augustus Le Plongeon
Augustus Le Plongeon
Augustus Le Plongeon was a photographer and antiquarian who studied the pre-Columbian ruins of America, particularly those of the Maya civilization on the northern Yucatán Peninsula. While his writings contain many eccentric notions that were discredited by later researchers, Le Plongeon left a...
, he believed it had been the place of a common origin of ancient civilizations in Africa (especially ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
), Europe, and the Americas. He also thought that it had been the original home of an Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
race whose red-haired, blue-eyed descendants could be found in Ireland. Donnelly's theories about the location of Atlantis as a large land mass in the Atlantic Ocean and its destruction by sinking were eventually discarded with the advent of the theory of plate tectonics
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
in the late 1960s. However, they fueled the imagination of many individuals, among them Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
, James Churchward
James Churchward
James Churchward is best known as a British born occult writer. However, he was also a patented inventor, engineer, and expert fisherman....
, Edgar Cayce
Edgar Cayce
Edgar Cayce was an American psychic who allegedly had the ability to give answers to questions on subjects such as healing or Atlantis while in a hypnotic trance...
, and Graham Hancock
Graham Hancock
Graham Hancock is a British writer and journalist. Hancock specialises in unconventional theories involving ancient civilizations, stone monuments or megaliths, altered states of consciousness, ancient myths and astronomical/astrological data from the past...
. The themes in his book are echoed by the plot of the 2009 film 2012
2012 (film)
2012 is a 2009 American disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich. It stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, and Woody Harrelson. It was produced by Emmerich's production company, Centropolis Entertainment and was distributed by Columbia Pictures...
directed by Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer.His films, most of which are Hollywood productions filmed in English, have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European director...
.
A year after Atlantis, he published Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel is a book by Minnesota politician Ignatius L. Donnelly published during 1883. It is a companion to the more well-known work Atlantis: The Antediluvian World.-Author's arguments:...
, in which he expounded his belief that the Flood, as well as the destruction of Atlantis (and the extinction of the mammoth), had been brought about by the near-collision of the earth with a massive comet. This book also sold well, and both books seem to have had an important influence on the development of Immanuel Velikovsky
Immanuel Velikovsky
Immanuel Velikovsky was a Russian-born American independent scholar of Jewish origins, best known as the author of a number of controversial books reinterpreting the events of ancient history, in particular the US bestseller Worlds in Collision, published in 1950...
's controversial ideas half a century later.
In 1888, he published The Great Cryptogram in which he proposed that Shakespeare's plays had been written by Francis Bacon
Baconian theory
The Baconian theory of Shakespearean authorship holds that Sir Francis Bacon, lawyer, philosopher, essayist and scientist, wrote the plays conventionally attributed to William Shakespeare, and that the historical Shakespeare was merely a front to shield the identity of Bacon, who could not take...
, an idea that was popular during the late 19th and early 20th century. He then travelled to England to arrange the English publication of his book by Sampson Low, speaking at the Oxford (and Cambridge) Union after which his thesis "Resolved, that the works of William Shakespeare were composed by Francis Bacon" was put to an unsuccessful vote. The book was a complete failure and Donnelly was discredited.
As well as writing, Donnelly made several other campaigns for public office during the 1880s. He made a losing campaign for Congress (this time as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
) in 1884. In 1887, he successfully campaigned for a seat in the Minnesota State Legislature as an Independent. During this period, he was also an organizer of the Minnesota Farmers' Alliance
Farmers' Alliance
The Farmers Alliance was an organized agrarian economic movement amongst U.S. farmers that flourished in the 1880s. One of the goals of the organization was to end the adverse effects of the crop-lien system on farmers after the American Civil War...
.
In 1892, Donnelly wrote the preamble of the People's Party's Omaha Platform
Omaha Platform
The Omaha Platform was the party program adopted at the formative convention of the Populist Party held in Omaha, Nebraska on July 4 1892.-Significance of the Omaha Platform:The platform preamble was written by Ignatius L. Donnelly...
for the presidential campaign of that year. He was nominated for Vice President of the United States during 1900 by the People's Party. Also known as the Populist Party, the People's Party was a development of the national Farmers' Alliance, and had a platform that demanded abandonment of the gold standard
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
(and later for free silver
Free Silver
Free Silver was an important United States political policy issue in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the "free coinage of silver" as opposed to the less inflationary Gold Standard; its supporters were called...
), abolition of national bank
National bank
In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings:* especially in developing countries, a bank owned by the state* an ordinary private bank which operates nationally...
s, a graduated income tax, direct election of senators
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures...
, civil service reform, and an eight-hour day
Eight-hour day
The eight-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement, also known as the short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. With working conditions...
. That year, Donnelly also campaigned for governor of Minnesota, but was defeated.
Marriages
His wife Katherine died in 1894. In 1898, he remarried, wedding his secretary, Marion Hanson.Death
Donnelly died on January 1, 1901, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, age 69 years. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota. His personal papers are archived at the Minnesota Historical SocietyMinnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society is a private, non-profit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehood. The Society is named in the Minnesota...
.
State park
During the 1930s, an organization was formed to lobby for the creation of a state park at Donnelly's home at Nininger near HastingsHastings, Minnesota
Hastings is a city in Dakota counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota, near the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers. The population was 22,172 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dakota County. The bulk of Hastings is in Dakota County; only a small part of the city extends...
, Minnesota. The house was still standing in 1939, but the effort failed and the house has since been demolished.
A personal reminiscence of a visit to Nininger during the 1930s is available at the Sacred-Texts website
Internet Sacred Text Archive
The Internet Sacred Text Archive is a website dedicated to the preservation of electronic public domain texts, specifically those with significant cultural value...
.
Works
His books include:- Atlantis: The Antediluvian WorldAtlantis: The Antediluvian WorldAtlantis: The Antediluvian World is a book published during 1882 by Minnesota populist politician Ignatius L. Donnelly, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during 1831...
(1882), in which he attempted to establish that all known ancient civilizations were descended from its high-Neolithic culture. - Ragnarok, the Age of Fire and Gravel (1883), in which he proposed that a comet hit the earth in prehistoric times and destroyed a high civilization.
- The Shakespeare Myth (1887)
- Essay on the Sonnets of Shakespeare
- The Great Cryptogram: Francis Bacon's Cipher in Shakespeare's Plays (1888), in which he maintained he had discovered codes in the works of ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
indicating that their true author was Francis Bacon. - Caesar's ColumnCaesar's ColumnCaesar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century is a novel by Ignatius Donnelly, famous as the author of Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. Caesar's Column was published pseudonymously in 1890...
(1890), a science fiction novel set during 1988 about a worker revolt against a global oligarchyOligarchyOligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
. (Published under the pseudonym of Edmund Boisgilbert.) - Doctor Huguet: A Novel (1891) (Published under the pseudonym of Edmund Boisgilbert.)
- The Golden Bottle or the Story of Ephraim Benezet of Kansas (1892)
- The Cipher in the Plays, and on the Tombstone (1899)
External links
- The Ignatius Donnelly and Family Papers are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society in the Biographical Directory of the United States CongressBiographical Directory of the United States CongressThe Biographical Directory of the United States Congress is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress as well as its predecessor, the Continental Congress...
- Donnelly's influence on 19th-Century Australia