Impact Factor 3.582 Case Studies Journal ISSN (2305-509X) – Volume 7, Issue 11–Nov-2018 http://www.casestudiesjournal.com Page 93 Aldous Huxley, the Bates Method, The Art of Seeing, and Frederick Matthias Alexander: An Unexpected, Overhauled History Author Details: Dr. Jeroen Staring: Until recently, Dr. mult. Jeroen Staring taught mathematics at secondary schools in The Netherlands. His 2005 Medical Sciences dissertation describes the life, work and technique of F. Matthias Alexander. In 2013 he successfully defended a second dissertation, on the early history of the NYC Bureau of Educational Experiments. Abstract: This case study cites the only known letter of Aldous Huxley to F. Matthias Alexander. The case study also discusses the background of this Huxley letter to Alexander. Key Words: Frederick Matthias Alexander, Dr. William Horatio Bates, Dr. Jean Baptiste Claverie, Edwin Cox, Margaret Souders Darst Corbett, Aldous Leonard Huxley, Bernarr Adolphus Macfadden. Alexander Technique, Bates Method, bodybuilding, physical culture. Conflict of Interest: Dr. Jeroen Staring is the owner of the December 30, 1938 letter, typewritten and signed by Aldous Huxley, sent to F. M. Alexander Esq., London, England. Introduction: Aldous Huxley and Gyrating Mexican Jumping Beans, Part I On March 22, 1941, Edwin Cox (1941) published a cartoon in the Buffalo Courier-Express „Private lives‟ comic series — regarding Aldous Huxley‟s poor eyesight. Aldous Huxley sits at a table, staring at a number of dots on the table, one appearing to jump. The text reads, Curious Cure. The Brilliant English writer, Aldous Huxley, declares he has rid himself of partial blindness by regular sessions of staring steadily at — of all things — a Mexican jumping bean. Allegedly, Cox‟s cartoon — also published in the Courier-Journal, Democrat and Chronicle, Pittsburgh Press, Shreveport Times, and perhaps in other newspapers too — annoyed Huxley so intensely that he immediately started to write a book on the years of single-minded efforts to cure his impaired vision. As a consequence, a year later he published The Art of Seeing in the United States (Huxley, 1942), and two years later in England (Huxley, 1943). F. Matthias Alexander: Rows and Rows of History Fakes Apart from the fact that Cox‟s cartoon genuinely appeared in the Buffalo Courier-Express and in the other newspapers as described above, and apart from the fact that the publication dates and title of Huxley‟s book are 100 % correct, the nice little story above is, of course, a gross distortion of history. In fact, the story simply is not true. Mind you, anecdotes and stories relating the history of Huxley‟s The Art of Seeing often are exactly that: distortions of history. For instance, Sanford Marovitz states in his paper „A New Look at The Art of Seeing‟ that F. Matthias Alexander — who commenced teaching his Alexander Technique to Huxley in November 1935, and who was mentioned twice in Huxley‟s book (Huxley, 1942, pp. 88, 273; 1943, pp. 39, 144) — came up with a method of overcoming physical disabilities “through self-examination aided by X-ray photography” (Marovitz, 2010, p. 116; italics added). In his 1931 book The Use of the Self, former entertainer F. M. Alexander described his years of search for a method to overcome vocal problems while performing on stage when young. Eventually, around 1894, he indicated, he found a breathing method that helped to solve his problems. Later, Alexander became known for another method, the so-called Alexander Technique (Staring, 2005). Back to Marovitz‟s anecdote: according to his The Use of the Self, Alexander‟s self-examination took place during the early 1890s. Consequently, it logically could not have been aided by X-ray photography, because Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the existence of X-rays only in 1895. Therefore: nice story by Marovitz, yet not true. Similar gross distortions of history unlikely often happen in the case of stories and anecdotes relating to Alexander. Distorted history seems to be inextricably linked to Alexander, his technique, his writings, and to stories and writings of his followers — starting with Alexander‟s claim of Scottish descent (not true, see