Historical dream account · English · published source text
The missing six pounds
John Abercrombie
The Literature and Curiosities of Dreams (1869) · Original 1869 edition, printed pp. 446, 447
Dreamer identified by the source: Unnamed Glasgow bank employee
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The gentleman was at the time connected with one of the principal banks in Glasgow, and was at his place at the teller’s table, where money is paid, when a person entered, demanding payment of a sum of six pounds. There were several people waiting, who were in turn entitled to be attended before him; but he was extremely impatient, and rather noisy; and being besides a remarkable stammerer, he became so annoying that another gentleman requested my friend to pay him his money and get rid of him. He did so accordingly, but with an expression of impatience at being obliged to attend to him before his turn, and thought no more of the transaction. At the end of the year, which was eight or nine months after, the books of the bank could not be made to balance, the deficiency being exactly six pounds. Several days and nights had been spent in endeavouring to discover the error, but without success; when at last my friend returned home much fatigued, and went to bed. He dreamed of being at his place in the bank, and the whole transaction with the examiners, as now detailed, passed before him in all its particulars. He awoke under a full impression that the dream was to lead him to a discovery of what he was so anxiously in search of, and, on examination, soon discovered that the sum paid to this person in the manner now mentioned had been neglected to be inserted in the book of interests, and that it exactly accounted for the error in the balance.
Source & context
Historical published account of a recalled sleep dream, not a verified prediction or contemporary community submission. One complete separately narrated case; source explanation and subsequent unrelated cases excluded. Paired/recurring episodes remain together. These are historically published claimed recollections. Source claims of fulfilment/causation are not independently established facts, predictions or medical evidence.
John Abercrombie, Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, and the Investigation of Truth, as quoted by Frank Seafield, The Literature and Curiosities of Dreams, second edition, revised (London: Lockwood & Co., 1869), printed pp. 446, 447. Source: Wellcome Collection. Dreamer and anthology compiler are credited separately. Descriptive title and navigation themes added by Synastry.
The publication year is not the dream date. No exact dream date or present-day person location is inferred. Dates printed in the narrative remain source wording.
Public Domain Mark 1.0 (source status) ↗
Wellcome’s catalogue and IIIF manifest identify the original 1869 revised second edition as public domain. Public Domain Mark identifies status, not a new license grant. The English text is retained as printed, including historical translations; no modern translation is included. Earlier works and authors are credited as printed in this anthology, not claimed independently reverified.
Source locator and text provenance
Original 1869 edition, printed pp. 446, 447
The original text and redactions are preserved. The page title is an editorial navigation label.
Editorial descriptive title. Printed header/page number excluded; original OCR line wraps joined, including word-wrap hyphens; exact raw page spans retained. OCR repairs replayable from normalizedOCR; source words/spelling retained except documented scan-confirmed repairs. No new translation, generated narrative, fabricated date, contemporary dreamer identity, or AI visual. Primary witness is this1869 anthology; quoted earlier work/author credited as printed, not claimed independently reverified.
- Account text SHA-256
- 3727f164abf316839983040acefcc0e499f3c26e865240e3fa80d459d0f0942c
- Source file SHA-256
- a73a0cec3f3d14cf9cf75b6335ee55d560d5b927017f27a081afdc3bc7ca3dba
Content notes
- Historical disability wording
Connections in the Loom
Titles, theme labels, illustrations and map connections are editorial navigation aids. They are separate from the account’s words and do not establish connections between real people.