Inquiry Errors Relative Insanity Consequences by Burrows (6 results)

Condition: As New. Unread book in perfect condition.

Condition: As New. Unread book in perfect condition.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, dark purple lettering-label. Spine a little worn, lacking top 25mm. of backstrip, covers and corners rubbed, upper joint tender, some foxing. Elegant illegible 19th-century monogram bookplate, old marginal pencillings on first, fold-out table ("A Comparative View of the Cures of Cases of Insanity in Different Institutions for Lunatics"); later bookplate of John Clay. "Is insanity curable - and in what proportion?" In his opening chapter George Man Burrows (1771-1846), for the first half of his career a conventional general practitioner based in Bloomsbury (as first chairman of the Association of Apothecaries and Surgeon-Apothecaries much embroiled in medical politics), from 1816 moved into alienism. From the case histories he here carefully offers, he seems to have been a humane and thoughtful psychiatrist, sympathetic to his patients and keen to regulate the conduct of asylums; his own in Chelsea, however, got him into trouble in 1829, when he struggled to contest two cases of wrongful confinement. This ruined him.…

First edition, 8vo (220 x 130 mm), ix, [1], 320pp., some intermittent light foxing, 1 folding table, fait stamp to title page, later maroon cloth, rubbed, spine lettered in gilt. An investigation of the curability of insanity based on the statistics of a countrywide survey of mental institutions. "Burrows claimed to have cured eighty-one percent of all the mental patients in his private asylum, with the rate rising to ninety-one percent for cases of less than a year's durationquestionable figures that were nevertheless accepted uncritically by his book's many readers. The cult of curability was an extreme reaction to the earlier belief that insanity was beyond help; during the period of its greatest influence, it inspired a marked increase in the construction of state mental hospitals."Hook & Norman. Provenance: Formerly in the library of the Birmingham Medical Institute. Hook & Norman, Haskell F. Norman Library I, 379; Hunter & Macalpine, p. 778; Wellcome II, p. 277. …

Leather Bound. Condition: Very Good. London, Underwood, 1820. ix, [1], 320 p. fold. tab. 22 cm. 8vo. Quarter bound in contemporary calf-skin leather. Corners bound. Gilt-embossed lettering and borders on spine. Marbled boards. Tight binding and solid boards. Slight bumping to corners. Rubbing to boards. Scuffing to spine. Medical Library bookplate inside front board. Gold seal in upper right corner of title page. Embossed personal library seal in lower right corner. Otherwise, clean, unmarked pages with minor toning.A scarce volume by an expert in the field of insanity. A very good copy. Please feel free to view our photographs. Ship daily.…

hardcover. 8vo, ix, 320pp., marbled boards, rebacked. London: Thomas & Goerge Underwood, 1820. First Edition. Owner's name on title page. Near fine. From 1815, Burrows devoted himself entirely to the treatment of insanity and was the proprietor of a private asylum in Clapham. The above work was described as a "well reasoned statistical study." Burrows demonstrated that the reported increase in insanity was more apparent than real and ascribed this apparent increase to "the powerful interest the subject of mental derangement has excited" as well as to the increasing numbers sent to asylums. Statistical folding chart, a fine copy. Wellcome II, p. 277.…