The Brain as an Organ: Its Postmortem Study and Interpretation

Edition: First Edition First and only edition of this important and now scarce textbook of neuropathology, used in medical schools throughout the world following publication. By Frederic Wertham, M.D. (1895–1981), formerly Associate in Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and Senior Psychiatrist at Bellevue, and Florence Wertham, formerly Charlton Fellow in Medicine at Johns Hopkins. With an introduction by Adolf Meyer, M.D., Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Johns Hopkins Hospital. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1934. 538 pp. plus 166 plates. Florence Hesketh Wertham drew all 166 cell plate illustrations, working from histological preparations she made herself. The plates — reproduced by aquatone process — are the visual core of the work, documenting normal and pathological brain tissue at the cellular level across conditions including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, syphilitic brain lesions, epilepsy, cerebral arteriosclerosis, and general paresis. The introduction by Adolf Meyer, the dominant figure of American psychiatry in the early 20th century, gives the work particular standing. Wertham received the first psychiatric grant awarded by the National Research Council for the research underlying this book. He also published the first study on the effects of mescaline and did pioneer work on insulin use in psychotherapy during this period. Wertham is now perhaps better known for Seduction of the Innocent (1954) and his role in the comic book hearings, but also for founding the Lafargue Clinic in Harlem and for research on racial segregation cited in Brown v. Board of Education. His papers are held at the Library of Congress. Condition: Original dark brown cloth with gilt titling and decoration to spine. Boards generally solid with light wear; cloth fraying and losses at head of spine and at both spine corners — the primary condition issue. Interior pages clean and bright with minimal toning; text legible throughout. All 166 aquatone plates present and intact. No dust jacket. No ownership inscriptions noted. Carefully packed and shipped in a box. Shipped via USPS with tracking provided. International shipping available. Additional photographs available upon request. bSCI 1d.