Theodore Deodatus Nathaniel Besterman (1904–1976) was a psychical researcher, bibliographer

Bibliography

Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...

, biographer, and translator. He was the first editor of the Journal of Documentation

Journal of Documentation

The Journal of Documentation is a double-blind peer-reviewed academic journal covering theories, concepts, models, frameworks, and philosophies in information science...

.

Besterman born in Łódź, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, but moved to London in his youth. In 1925 he was elected chairman of the British Federation of Youth Movements, and between 1927 and 1935 he was the investigating officer for the Society for Psychical Research

Society for Psychical Research

The Society for Psychical Research is a non-profit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand "events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal by promoting and supporting important research in this area" and to "examine allegedly paranormal phenomena...

. His first publication was a 1924 bibliography of Annie Besant

Annie Besant

Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...

; many works of psychical research followed. He was a critical researcher; in 1930 his criticism of Modern Psychic Mysteries, Millesimo Castle, Italy, a book on an Italian medium

Mediumship

Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...

 by Gwendolyn Kelley Hack, caused Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...

 to resign from the society. Doyle stated "... [The work of the Society] is an evil influence—is anti-spiritualist."

In the 1930s Besterman lectured at the London School of Librarianship and edited and published many works of, and about, bibliography.

Besterman served in the Royal Artillery

Royal Artillery

The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...

 and the Army Bureau of Current Affairs

Army Bureau of Current Affairs

The Army Bureau of Current Affairs, or ABCA, was an organisation set up to educate and raise morale amongst British servicemen in World War II....

 during the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and afterwards worked for UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

, working on international approaches to bibliography.

In the 1950s Besterman began to concentrate on collecting, translating and publishing the writings of Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

, including much previously unpublished correspondence. This was to occupy him for the rest of his life. He lived at Voltaire's house in Geneva, where he founded the Institut et Musée Voltaire

Institut et Musée Voltaire

The Institut et Musée Voltaire is a museum in Geneva dedicated to the life and works of Voltaire. The museum is housed in Les Délices, which was Voltaire's home from 1755 until 1760....

 and published 107 volumes of Voltaire's letters and a series of books entitled "Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century". The Forum for Modern Language Studies called Besterman's edition of the correspondence "the greatest single piece of Voltairian scholarship for over a century.".

Besterman in 1969 published a detailed biography of Voltaire (541 pages + back matter), including many of Besterman's own translations of Voltaire's verse and correspondence.

He moved back to Britain in the late 1960s and died in Banbury

Banbury

Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...

 in 1976.

Brief bibliography

• The Divining Rod: An Experimental and Psychological Investigation, 1926
• Mind of Annie Besant, 1927
• Some Modern Mediums, 1930
• Mrs. Annie Besant, a modern prophet, 1934
• Men against women; a study of sexual relations, 1934
• The Beginnings of Systematic Bibliography, 1935
• A World Bibliography of Bibliographies, 1939
• The love letters of Voltaire to his niece, 1958 (editor and translator)
• Voltaire's Correspondence 1953–65, 107 vols
• Philosophical dictionary, 1972 (translator)
• Crystal Gazing: A study in the History, Distribution and Practice of Scrying, 1965
• Voltaire, 1969