Who Was Manly P. Hall?

Manly P. Hall was an American writer and researcher into things esoteric. He travelled widely in the Orient, exploring the Eastern mystical traditions, before returning to the United States where he worked on Wall Street, while continuing to research occult subjects in his own time. At the age of 27, he published his masterpiece, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, a book which describes mystical and religious phenomena from distinct spiritual traditions all across the world. The book was greeted with acclaim. Hall soon had many admirers and benefactors. He delivered popular lectures and, in Los Angeles, set up the Philosophical Research Society, an institute dedicated to the study of the ancient wisdom traditions. Hall assembled a magnificent library at the PRS, and continued to lecture there until the end of his life at the age of 89.

Although a legal dispute centred on Hall's will left the PRS with a huge bill, forcing it to sell off some of its rare manuscripts, the institute has managed to survive to this day and Hall's great work, the Secret Teachings, remains in print.