Life and career
After training in medicine, Hartmann practised in the United States and settled in Colorado. There he became interested in Spiritualism and then in the Theosophical Society, which he joined in 1882. His autobiography describes a deliberate break with medical practice: in September 1883 he left Colorado for California to take ship for India.
Arriving at Adyar that December, he met Helena Blavatsky and took part in the work of the Society’s headquarters. When controversy arose over the phenomena attributed to Blavatsky, Hartmann published an account of his own stay. He was writing as a participant and defender. He later returned to Europe and continued publishing in German and English until his final years in Bavaria.
Work and ideas
Hartmann could be sharply satirical about occult authorities, even while taking Theosophy seriously. The Talking Image of Urur appeared in serial form in Lucifer. Among the Gnomes, first published in German in 1892 and in English in 1895, sends its visitor into an underground society where the claims of learned experts become occasions for comedy.
His nonfiction adopted quite different forms. The Principles of Astrological Geomancy explained how to construct and interpret figures, while In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom explored the history and teachings of the Rosicrucians. The instructional writer and the satirist shared an interest in who could claim authority to teach hidden knowledge.
