Illustrations of Madness (Psychology Revivals)

John Haslams Illustrations of Madness, written in 1810, occupies a special place in psychiatric history, it was the first book-length account of one single psychiatric case written by a British psychiatrist. John Haslam, apothecary to Londons Bethlem Hospital, and a leading psychiatrist of the early-nineteenth century, details the case of James Tilly Matthews, who had been a patient in the hospital for some ten years. Matthews claimed he was sane, as did his friends and certain doctors. Haslam, on behalf of the Bethlem authorities, contended he was insane, and attempted to demonstrate this by presenting a detailed account of Matthews own delusional system, as far as possible in Matthews own words. Originally published in 1988 as part of the Tavistock Classics in the History of Psychiatry series, Roy Porters Introduction to this facsimile reprint of an historic book goes beyond Haslams text to reveal the extraordinary psychiatric politics surrounding Matthews confinement and the court case it produced, leading up to Haslams dismissal from his post. Still relevant today, Haslams account can be used as material upon which to base a modern diagnosis of Matthews disorder.