“While trances had long been associated with biblical figures and medieval saints, American audiences of this era had become familiar with a new type of dream state, the mesmeric or hypnotic trance first noted by the eighteenth century Austrian doctor Friedrich Anton Mesmer.” HypnosisMesmerismHypnotic TranceFriedrich Anton Mesmer Book:Defiant Brides: The Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married Source: Defiant Brides: The Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married