UNDERHILL, EVELYN (1875–1941) was an English poet, novelist, and writer on mysticism. Born in Wolverhampton, England, the daughter of barrister Arthur Underhill, Evelyn Underhill supplemented her secondary education by studies at King's College, London, and by travel abroad. Underhill's early letters show some precocity for self-study and her personal and literary career may be regarded in light of this capacity. Her marriage in 1907 allowed Underhill the kind of financial support and unencumbered way of life necessary for her both to seek personal guidance essential to her spiritual growth and to undertake the voluminous research that her work would demand.

Underhill was both beneficiary and catalyst in the revival of the metaphysical discussion current in the early years of her career. She was influenced by Arthur Waite, a figure of manifold interests in the occult, magic, and religion, associating herself for some time with the Hermetic Order of...