Biography
Theron Q. Dumont was a pseudonym of William Walker Atkinson (December 5, 1862 – November 22, 1932), an attorney, merchant, publisher, and author, as well as an occultist and an American pioneer of the New Thought movement. He is also known to have been the author of numerous works under several other pseudonymous names, including Yogi Ramacharaka, Swami Bhakta Vishita, Swami Panchadasi, and Theodore Sheldon.
As Theron Q. Dumont, Atkinson stated on the title page that he was an "Instructor on the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism, Paris, France" – a claim manifestly untrue, as he was an American living in the United States. The Atkinson titles released under the Dumont name were primarily concerned with self-improvement and the development of mental will power and self-confidence. Among them were Practical Memory Training, The Art and Science of Personal Magnetism, The Power of Concentration, and The Advanced Course in Personal Magnetism: The Secrets of Mental Fascination.
Due in part to Atkinson's intense personal secrecy and extensive use of pseudonyms, he is now largely forgotten, despite having obtained mention in past editions of Who's Who in America, Religious Leaders of America, and several similar publications—and having written more than 100 books in the last 30 years of his life. His works have remained in print more or less continuously since 1900.
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