Maryland. Lunatic Asylum, at Spring Grove, Baltimore Co. [with] Virginia. Lunatic Asylum, at Staunton.

First editions of these extravagant hand-colored lithographic views of the psychiatric hospitals in Maryland and Virginia. Each print is mounted to a sheet of thick black paper measuring 11 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches. The prints are 8 x 4 1/2 inches and they each have a thick and a thin gilt border with the title and publisher?s information in gilt between them. Very minor edge wear (hard to discern). Bold, bright and fresh. OCLC locates 2 copies of each print.Construction of the Maryland psychiatric hospital began before the Civil War but was not completed until 1872 [making this a print of what was to be]. The Virginia Asylum had a most colorful past. It was called the Western Lunatic Asylum and it started accepting patients in 1828. Its superintendent from 1840 to 1874 was Dr. F. T. Stribling. He and thirteen other superintendents would go on to form an association that eventually morphed into the American Psychiatric Association. They were believers in making the patient well through diet, exercise, etc., rather than just housing them. It had a famous director in the 20th century as well, Dr. Joseph S. DeJarnette. He became director in 1904 and held that position until 1943. Dr. DeJarnette was a fierce and staunch believer in eugenics and during his reign was responsible for hundreds of forced sterilizations upon those he considered unfit.The Maryland Asylum was demolished in the 1960s but the core buildings of the Virginia facility remain much as they were and is now considered one of finest examples of early American institutional architecture. …