SELECT CASES IN THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF INSANITY

Rochester: Printed and sold by W. Gillman, 1787. Third Edition. 218 x 135 mm. (8 1/2 x 5 1/4"). viii, 335 pp.
Recent retrospective calf-backed marbled boards, flat spine with gilt-ruled into panels with central floral ornament, red morocco label with gilt titling. ESTC T126963. ◆First and last couple of leaves a bit foxed or browned, isolated spots of foxing elsewhere, but quite an excellent copy--clean and fresh, with quite comfortable margins, and in an unworn sympathetic binding.

This is a collection of case studies by a pioneer in the humane treatment of mental illness, detailing the symptoms presented and the treatments administered. William Perfect (1734-1809) began his career as an obstetrician, then led efforts to inoculate the population in Kent against smallpox. In the 1760s, he began to treat patients deemed insane, operating his Kentish home as a private asylum. According to DNB, "Gentleness and common sense seem to have characterized his approach, whether dealing with women in childbirth or the insane." Perfect observed in one of his reports, "gentle treatment contributed much to the case and should always be adopted in preference to rigorous measures (where possible) . . . The proper management . . . is more to be depended upon than medicine, but when both are judicially and humanely blended, the patient has always the best chance of recovery." DNB notes he was a "keen believer in the value of advertising . . . [and] frequently publicized his medical services in the newspapers." He produced several books of case studies, including the present work, at least in part as a way of promoting his services and methods. This is a rare book: in addition to the present copy, RBH lists just two copies sold at auction (in 1969 and 2012), and the book is very seldom seen offered for sale by dealers..