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States "Fourth edition revised, March 1917." (The first was 1908.) A "very good" copy with gilt titles still bright to front board, somewhat faded but still legible to spine, dated June 23, 1917, inscribed with a fountain pen in brown ink "To be given away by my friend and classmate, Clarence H. Stilson, with the compliments of Clifford Whittingham Beers." Stilson was indeed a fellow 1897 graduate of Yale's Sheffield Scientific School; he subsequently went to work for Westinghouse Electric in Pittsburgh. Below that author inscription, in blue ink, we find the Previous Owner's Name "Arvin J. Welch." (Welch was vice-president of Wilson Haight and Welch Insurance Co., of Hartford.) The book introduced with two printed letters of endorsement from Wm. James, "late professor of Harvard University, one of the most eminent of American psychologists," to "cut off incredulity at its source." Beers (1876-1943), a Yale graduate, was a pioneer in advocating for improved treatment of mental illness. In 1900, while working for an interior designer, Beers broke down mentally and attempted suicide. He suffered from hallucinations and delusions, believing even visiting family members were impostors and police spies. From August, 1900, to September, 1903, he was hospitalized in three different institutions. The hospital conditions, along with Beers' torments, both mental and physical, are thoroughly documented in his 1908 autobiography, "A Mind That Found Itself." He records petty punishments, forced feedings, the use of straitjackets and hand-restraints, quaintly called muffs. Patients were regularly denied the ability to shower for upwards of three weeks at a time. Beers was often choked and physically beaten by attendants much larger than himself. Amazingly enough, he got better, and grew more and more determined to record all the transgressions visited upon him and his fellow patients. He realized that to be believed, to be credible, he needed to know more about what went on in other sections of the hospital -- especially "the violent ward." There, "stripped of my outer garments; and clad in nothing but underclothes, I was thrust into a cell" with no bed or other furniture, and little ventilation. "For over a month I was kept in a half starved condition. Worst of all, winter was approaching and these, my first quarters, were without heat." After his release, friends advised Beers to keep quiet about his illness. He refused. Through the publication of this book, Beers found support for what would become his life's work. He would speak for the patients who no one would listen to, the invisible ones. Beers declined to name the scene of his tortures -- insisting he wanted to reform the industry overall, not just one or two facilities -- but it was clearly the Connecticut State Hospital for the Insane, on a hill overlooking the scenic old river port of Middletown, an institution whose buildings today stand dark, cavernous and mostly empty. In 1908 Beers founded the "Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene" -- now Mental Health Connecticut. In 1909 Beers he went on to found the "National Committee for Mental Hygiene" -- now "Mental Health America." This thick, author-inscribed copy, at 363 pp. including appendices, now reduced from $525.
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