LUNACY

[Samuel Tuke, pioneer of 'moral treatment' at the York Retreat asylum.] Autograph Letter Signed to his kinsman David Priestman, announcing that he has 'given up attendance of the Retreat Committee' due to indisposition.

Author: 
Samuel Tuke (1784-1857), Quaker minister, asylum reformer and philanthropist [The York Retreat, asylum where 'moral treatment' was employed]
Publication details: 
Lawrence St [York]; 223 June 1848.
£200.00

2pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'David Priestman'. Reads: 'If my friend D Priestman is going to the Asylum [Qty?] Court to-day I shall be obliged by his stating that I have been unable to attend the Committee during the last quarter from my indisposition & that seeing no prospect of discharging the duties of the Office during the next [i.e. the next quarter] I hope the Court will omit my name in the list[.] I have given up the attendance of the Retreat Committee'. The Tuke and Priestman families were related by marriage.

[Samuel Tuke, Quaker minister, asylum reformer and philanthropist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Saml. Tuke'), regarding the editorship of the 'Annual Monitor', to an unnamed 'Friend' (the magazine's printer?).

Author: 
Samuel Tuke (1784-1857), Quaker minister, asylum reformer and philanthropist [The York Retreat, asylum where 'moral treatment' was employed; William Alexander (1768-1841), editor, The Annual Monitor]
Publication details: 
York; 5 April 1860.
£950.00

The present letter concerns the editorship of the Annual Monitor, a Quaker magazine subtitled 'Obituary of the members of the Society of Friends in Great Britain and Ireland', published between 1812 and 1919. The founding editor was William Alexander (1768-1841), and following Alexander's death 'the Editors' referred to in the letter included Sarah Backhouse and the letter's author Samuel Tuke. The recipient would appear to be the magazine's printer. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper adhering to blank second leaf of bifolium. Folded twice.

[James Cowles Prichard, Commissioner in Lunacy who introduced the term 'senile dementia'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. C. Prichard M.D. F.R.S. | Senior Physician to the Bristol Infirmary'), a testimonial for his student Robert T. H. Bartley.

Author: 
J. C. Prichard [James Cowles Prichard] (1786-1848), physician and ethnologist who published an influentical work on evolution, Commissioner in Lunacy who introduced the term 'senile dementia'
Publication details: 
Bristol; 2 July 1841.
£500.00

1p, 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to the reverse of the blank second leaf, the recto of which has laid down upon it the letter's envelope, with penny red stamp and postmarks, addressed to 'Robert T. H. Bartley Esq | Surgeon | West Hackney | London', with manuscript annotation by post official official stating that Bartley is 'not known' in the area. Folded several times. The letter reads: 'I have much pleasure in certifying that Mr Robert T. H.

[Bryan Waller Procter (the poet 'Barry Cornwall'), as Commissioner in Lunacy.] Autograph Letter Signed ('B. W. Procter'), asking a colleague (Harris?] for information about the 'Conduct' of 'some patients', 'particularly about Miss Anne [Lealer?].

Author: 
Bryan Waller Procter (1787-1874), poet under pseudonym 'Barry Cornwall' and Commissioner in Lunacy, 1832-1861, member of London Magazine circle, friend of Charles Lamb, Thackeray and Wilkie Collins
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Office of Commissioners in Lunacy, 19 New Street, Spring Gardens [London]. 12 August 1847.
£120.00

Proctor was a much loved individual in literary circles, from the days of the London Magazine to the mid-Victorian period, in which he was the dedicatee of both Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair' and Wilkie Collins's 'Woman in White'. His reputation as a poet was international: he was thought highly of by Pushkin. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse. The letter reads: 'Dear [Harris?] | Pray tell me where [?] I can have some conversation with you about some patients of the name of [Lealer? Lester?], whom you know.

[William Conolly, joint licensee with his brother John Conolly of Hayes Park Private Lunatic Asylum, Uxbridge.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Will Conolly') to 'George Rogers Esqr MD', reporting the arrival of patient 'Mr George Helyar'.

Author: 
William Brice Conolly, MD, joint licensee of Hayes Park Private Lunatic Asylum, Uxbridge, with his brother John Conolly (1794-1866), later resident physician to the Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell
Publication details: 
'Hayes Park nr Uxbridge | Decr. 19. 1851'.
£220.00

2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and browned paper, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to the reverse. Folded twice. The letter reads: 'Mr George Helyar arrived here last night accompanied by your attendant from whom I received your letter and a purse containing £11 – 12 – Mr Helyar has slept well and appears comfortable this morning, and I hope will go on well with us - | When his Clothes arrive I will inform you - | I also received the Order, & Certificates from the attendant for which pray accept my thanks -'.

[Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister, as Home Secretary.] Autograph List of appointments by him of Lunacy Commissioners (following on from the 1828 Madhouse Act), with Autograph Note by him on the matter.

Author: 
Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), Tory Prime Minister and creator of the Metropolitan Police ('Peelers') [Metropolitan Lunacy Commission; 1828 Madhouse Act]
Publication details: 
[Home Office, Whitehall; 1828.]
£2,000.00

In August 1828, following the passing of the 1828 Madhouse Act, the Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel established a commission to oversee London's madhouses, consisting of five physicians, six Middlesex JPs, and ten other honorary (i.e. unpaid) commissioners. The present document by Peel casts interesting light on the process of appointment. It is on both sides of 18 x 23 cm piece of paper, evidently used as envelope for 'the Instrument' mentioned in Peel's note. Aged, and with tear and hole caused by breaking open of seal. Folded twice.

[Forbes Winslow, nineteenth-century physician and psychiatrist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('F Winslow'), postponing a conversation as a result of a tiring visit to a patient in Northamptonshire.

Author: 
Forbes Winslow [Forbes Benignus Winslow] (1810-1874), nineteenth-century physician, psychiatrist, author and authority on lunacy
Publication details: 
Bushey, Hertfordshire. 'Sat.' [no date]
£125.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with evidence of mount on reverse of second leaf, which is endorsed 'Dr. Forbes Winslow'. Two central folds, one vertical and one horizontal. The male recipient is unnamed. He is 'quite unfit to go up to London to-day', 'owing to the fatigue I underwent yesterday travelling a long distance into Northamptonshire to see a patient'.

[ Lord Riddell and eugenics: 'Lunacy and mental deficiency must always be festering sores'. ] Printed pamphlet: 'Sterilisation of the Unfit. Paper read by Lord Riddell before the Medico-Legal Society, April 25th, 1929.'

Author: 
Lord Riddell [ George Allardice Riddell, 1st Baron Riddell ] (1865-1934), Fleet Street press baron, proprietor of the News of the World [ eugenics ]
Publication details: 
Printed for H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd, by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ltd., London and Aylesbury. No date [ circa 1929 ].
£120.00

31 + [1]pp., 8vo. Stapled without wraps. Drophead title. (Offprint from Transactions of the Medico-Legal Society.) In fair condition, lightly aged, central vertical fold, rusted staples. 'No reasonable person', Riddell writes, 'suggests the wholesale sterilisation of masses of lunatics and defectives. Only very moderate measures are proposed.' Riddell's suggestion is that 'in suitable cases, subject to the consent of the Board of Control, or some similar body', and with the consent of the subject, lunatics and mental defectives be sterilised.

[Hester Catherine Browne, Dowager Lady Sligo.] Autograph Letter in the third person soliciting the votes of 'Mr. Shewell [...] for Henry Jennings at the Election for the Idiot Asylum in April, 1854'.

Author: 
Hester Catherine Browne [nee de Burgh] (1800-1878), Marchioness of Sligo [Lady Sligo], wife of Howe Peter Browne (1788-1845), 2nd Marquess of Sligo [Shewell; Idiot Asylum]
Publication details: 
Portumna Castle, County Galway, Ireland. 12 December 1853.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on aged paper. The letter reads: 'The Dowr. Lady Sligo presents her Compliments to Mr. Shewell, & begs earnestly to solicit his Votes for Henry Jennings at the Election for the Idiot Asylum in April, 1854 - | Lady Sligo can recommend Henry Jennings as a member of a very poor & industrious family -'.

[Vellum indenture.] Grant of the Custody of the person and management of the real and personal Estate of Maria Anna Zachary Spinster a Lunatic unto Charles Claridge Gentleman'.

Author: 
[Maria Anna Zachary; Shepherd]
Grant of the Custody of the person and management of a Lunatic
Publication details: 
27 September 1838.
£250.00
Grant of the Custody of the person and management of a Lunatic

Striking vellum document, 60 x 75 cm. Docketed on reverse. 32 lines of text, ruled with red lines, with ornate engraved decorative border along three sides, headed in large letters 'Victoria by the Grace of God', and depicting the young Queen, the royal crest, a crown held by a cherub, blind justice, and other images. Tax stamp in margin and frayed ribbon at foot. On 9 September [V Geo.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Francis Freeling (1764-1836), Secretary to the Post Office.

Author: 
Rev. R. H. Whitelock [Whitelocke] of Manchester [Sir Francis Freeling; Lavinia Robinson; Suicide]
Publication details: 
[March 1814; Manchester.]
£85.00

Two pages, quarto. On slightly stained, aged paper, with a few closed tears and some wear to extremities. Black wax seal adhering to second leaf of bifolium. Docketed 'March 1814 | Manchester | Revd. R. H. Whitelocke', but the signature appears to read 'Whitelock'.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Anne Benson Procter [nee Skepper] [Bryan Waller Procter, 'Barry Cornwall']
Publication details: 
14 February 1874; 32 Weymouth St, Portland Place, W.
£45.00

Wife (1799-1888) of the English poet Bryan Waller Procter ('Barry Cornwall', 1787-1874), and stepdaughter of the noted jurist Basil Montagu. One page, 12mo. Very good on slightly paper, and with closed tear to blank second leaf of bifoliate. Written on behalf of her husband during his final illness. 'Mr Procter desires me to say that you have his ready permission to print The Old Arm Chair | I regret to say that my husband is now too feeble to write to you.' Signed 'Anne B. Procter'.

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