ASYLUM

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.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and sunned, with several folds. The document is unsigned, but is certainly in Pinel's hand. A rough draft of a plan for a composition, in a few lines, with corrections and deletions. Written in a hurried hand which is difficult to decipher. The heading begins: 'essai de Classification du Maladis'. There follow four headings for an intended table: 'Classes', 'ordres', 'Gens', 'Espèce'.

1p, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf, which is addressed 'A Monsieur | Monsieur Marron | President du Consistoire | de L'Eglise reformée | Paris'. Seventeen lines of text in a neat and close hand. The letter concerns a patient named Therese Chauler, regarding whom, on Marron's recommendation and as a result of an appeal by her parents, Pinel wishes he could do 'quelque chose qui fut agréable', by 'la retirer de la division des alienés pour la faire passer dans le reste de l'hospice'.

1p, 16mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and spotted, with the two leaves separated. Addressed on reverse of second leaf 'à Monsieur Notaire Des-rain de Gramond | à Paris'. Indicating Pinel's old age, the note reads: 'Monsieur | l'affaire en question aura lieu demain à la Sapetriere [sic] a deux heures tres precises | ce 1st octobre 1823 | Pinel'.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and creased, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to the reverse of the second leaf. The recipient is not named. Conolly begins by apologising for being unable to 'name any Asylum, near London, into which patients are received for the payment you mention, and which I can recommend'.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Accepting, 'with very great pleasure, the kind & hospitable invitation of the Resident Members at Brighton for Wednesday the 13th August'. It is Conolly's intention 'to be present at the Public Breakfast & Dinner on the 14th.'

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with small tape stain on reverse. Folded twice. The letter begins: 'My dear Dr. Spurgin, | Believing you to be left all alone, I was hoping to write and entreat you to come & see us: but a sudden return of Neuraliga faciei, now, I hope, leaving me, is not so much departed as to permit my speaking, or eating, or drinking, except at long intervals, & then very sparingly.' Conolly fears that he would neither be able to dine nor talk with Spurgin.

For information on the recipient the physician William Frederick Cleveland (1823-1898), see his obituary, BMJ, 3 December 1898. ONE: 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. He begins by stating that he 'constantly' sees 'patients in London for the ordinary Consultation Fee of 2 Gs.' Because of the 'lamented death of a relative at a distance', Conolly is 'unable to name an earlier time for having the pleasure to meet you than Monday next, the 21st., at 3 o'Clock'. TWO: 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper, with mourning border.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. A significant letter, in which a leading asylum keeper of the period protests against the Victorian trend towards the building of large mental institutions. Conolly was instrumental in the foundation of the The Royal Earlswood Institution for Mental Defectives (also the Asylum for Idiots), and he is writing to the institution's secretary, William Nicholas.

Both in good condition, lightly aged, and each with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. Both addressed to 'My dear Pierce'. (Pierce had worked under Clouston at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, before taking up his post at the York Retreat asylum in 1892.) Clouston's hand is markedly disordered hand, and difficult of decipherment. ONE: 2pp, 12mo. He is enclosing a cheque for three guineas 'for [Maher's?] Fund'.

Two good substantial letters, the first written with Pierce on the verge of leaving Sir Thomas Clouston (1840-1915) and the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, and taking up the position of medical superintendent at the York Retreat asylum, and contemplating going to a conference in Paris in the interim; and the second a discussion of the question of the propensity to insanity of 'a lunatic's Child'. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, on grey paper, with thin strips of paper adhering from mounts. ONE: 22 June 1892. 8pp, 12mo. On two bifoliums. Signed 'D Hack Tuke'.

The subject of the letter is the Croonian Lectures, 'On some of the Forms of Insanity', which Conolly delivered before the Royal College of Physicians in 1849. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. The recipient is not identified.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. The letter reads: 'My dear Sir, | I am required to give evidence before a Commission de Lunatico Inquirendo on Thursday morning at ten, in London. I trust, therefore, to being permitted to postpone my attendance on the Committee until two on that day.'

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. Begins: 'Samuel Tuke having been disappointed of an opportunity of sending by a private hand a parcel to his friend Dr Max. Jacobi will be much obliged to J. Churchill to send to him four copies of the translation of his work'.

Ellis was the first Medical Superintendent at the Middlesex County Asylum, serving in the position from 1831 to 1838. His 'humane treatment' and 'therapeutic employment' were highly influential. The present letter is of high interest, with Ellis displaying his qualities – in support of his use of phrenology in diagnosis – in describing his treatment of a violent and insane 'Lady of Rank'. 3pp, 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to the reverse of the second leaf, which is addressed, with postmarks and seal in red wax, to 'H. W.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded once. Forty-three lines of text. He begins by expressing pleasure at the prospect of being associated with Pierce 'in the Course of Lectures on Mental Diseases', and at the news that Pierce has 'decided to take up the Systematic Part'. He leaves the choice of day to Pierce, and offers to put him up for the night.

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.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of blank second leaf of bifolium. Without heading or salutation, reads: 'I have pleasure in expressing the high opinion which I entertain of Dr. Bedford Pierce's professional attainments | I feel sure that he is in all respects well qualified for the post of Medical Superintendent of the Retreat. When I heard that the post was to be vacant his was the name which at once occurred to my mind & I have not since thought of any one whom I could more confidently recommend'.

1p, 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with the reverse of the second leaf bearing a thin strip of paper from mount, and addressed, with postmark, to 'T. J. Pettigrew Esqr | 8 Saville Street | Burlington Gardens.' Folded five times. The letter begins: 'My dear Pettigrew. | I shall with much pleasure attend your Conversazione, indeed I am partial to that mode of passing an evening. I like the sparks that are struck from different minds.

3pp, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. Fifty-two lines of text. He thanks Pierce for his 'most kind expressions of regard for myself, & your eulogistic & cordial tribute to my poor efforts in the cause of Psychological Medicine'. which he has read in 'the account of the proceedings at the Edinburgh Meeting in July last', in the Journal of Mental Science.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to the reverse of the second leaf. The last few words and valediction of the letter are cross-written on the first page, with Allbutt's signature written across several words. At the head of the first page Allbutt has written: 'Please regard this as Private'. He begins by giving two numbered reasons why he 'cannot reply fully or definitively' to the unnamed recipient's letter: 1. 'Because I don't know more of Mr. Dent's Views than the few words he said at Q[uarter]. Sessions.

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 -'.

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.

2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank second leaf. Folded once. Written in a markedly disordered hand, difficult of decipherment. The recipient is not named.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount to gutter. Folded twice. The recipient is not named, but is likely to be the secretary of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association (now the British Medical Association), as the letter concerns the nineteenth annual meeting of that body, held at Brighton, 13 and 14 August 1851. It begins: 'My dear Sir, | Many thanks for your very kind invitation. I have engaged beds for myself, my brother Dr. W. C. [William Brice Conolly (c.1793-1861), M.D., of Castleton House Kings, Gloucestershire], Dr.

This document, signed by George IV as Prince Regent, and by the former Prime Minister Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary, relates to Matthias Maher (1798-1865), a Royal Navy officer who was twice tried at the Old Bailey on a charge of forgery. On the first occasion, 6 May 1818, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity; and removed to the criminal asylum in St George's Fields. Maher was found sound of mind – as the present document reveals by Sir George Leman Tuthill (1772–1835) and Edward Wright (c.1788-1859), the latter to die of disgrace in Australia.

2pp, foolscap 8vo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. Good firm signature by the queen ('Victoria R') in the customary place at the head of the first page; and tight signature of the Home Secretary at the end of the document ('Jas G Graham.'). Both signatures over guiding pencil crosses. Seal under paper in left-hand margin of first page.

2pp, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. Folded twice. Large heavily-smudged signature of the king ('George R.') at head of first page, which has the royal seal under paper in the left-hand margin. Signed at end of document ('By His Majesty's Command') by the Home Secretary and future Prime Minister: 'R Peel'.

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'.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to edge of reverse of second leaf, and two central folds, one vertical and one horizontal. He invites Philipart to 'do us the pleasure of meeting Dr & Mrs Bennett on Wednesday next at dinner at 6.40 for 7 o Cl'. He is 'most anxious', as they are 'both going down the hill [last four words underlined] to renew an old & much valued friendship & to re introduce you to some of my grown up children'.