Report, together with the minutes of evidence, and an appendix of papers, from the committee appointed to consider of provision being made for the better regulation of Madhouses in England.
London.
Reprinted for Baldwin, Cradock and Joy...and R. Hunter, 1815.
First edition.
8vo.
[3], xii, 399pp, [1]. Contemporary half-calf, marbled boards, ruled and lettered in gilt. Very lightly rubbed. Very occasional light spotting.
The first edition of an extensive report on the regulation of 'madhouses' in England, ordered for printing by the House of Commons in July 1815, and arranged by James Birch Sharpe (b.1789). The enquiries are extensive, and the results conclusive - the Committee suggests with 'the utmost confidence' that 'there are not in the country a set of Being more immediately requiring the protection of the Legislature' than those housed in these institutions.
The primary locations discussed comprise York asylum (later Bootham Park Hospital), Bethlem, Nottingham Asylum, The Retreat at York, St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics, and Hoxton House. Throughout the volume, a great deal of conspiracy and corruption among the management of these institutions is observed: at York, is it noted that 'the deaths of 144 patients had actually been concealed'; at Hoxton, 'the floor was quite red with the effect of the urine'; and in Bethlem, many women were found 'naked, and chained on straw, with only one blanket for a covering'.
Perhaps the most curious chapter is titled 'Naval Maniacs at Hoxton', which evaluates the management of Hoxton House, a hospital which from 1792 housed patients who had become insane after serving in the Royal Navy. At the time of writing, over 150 naval inmates, with 17 being considered 'naval maniacs', resided at Hoxton, with conditions observed as being inhumane, crowded, and understaffed. The men's naval status is even used to excuse their cramped conditions, with Dr. John Harness asserting that, in terms of space requirements, 'on board of ships of war a seaman is allowed only fourteen inches'.
As the committee concludes, the management in such institutions was 'so reprehensible as...to subject the persons concerned, if it had been known, to criminal prosecutions.'
£ 750.00
Antiquates Ref: 18826
The primary locations discussed comprise York asylum (later Bootham Park Hospital), Bethlem, Nottingham Asylum, The Retreat at York, St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics, and Hoxton House. Throughout the volume, a great deal of conspiracy and corruption among the management of these institutions is observed: at York, is it noted that 'the deaths of 144 patients had actually been concealed'; at Hoxton, 'the floor was quite red with the effect of the urine'; and in Bethlem, many women were found 'naked, and chained on straw, with only one blanket for a covering'.
Perhaps the most curious chapter is titled 'Naval Maniacs at Hoxton', which evaluates the management of Hoxton House, a hospital which from 1792 housed patients who had become insane after serving in the Royal Navy. At the time of writing, over 150 naval inmates, with 17 being considered 'naval maniacs', resided at Hoxton, with conditions observed as being inhumane, crowded, and understaffed. The men's naval status is even used to excuse their cramped conditions, with Dr. John Harness asserting that, in terms of space requirements, 'on board of ships of war a seaman is allowed only fourteen inches'.
As the committee concludes, the management in such institutions was 'so reprehensible as...to subject the persons concerned, if it had been known, to criminal prosecutions.'
