Bernard Mandeville: A Treatise of the Hypochondriack and Hysterick Diseases (1730): A Treatise of the Hypochondriack and Hysterick Diseases (1730)

by Sylvie Kleiman-Lafon (Editor)

Overview

This work reflects on hypochondria as well as on the global functioning of the human mind and on the place of the patient/physician relationship in the wider organisation of society. First published in 1711, revised and enlarged in 1730, and now edited and published with a critical apparatus for the first time, this is a major work in the history of medical literature as well as a complex literary creation. Composed of three dialogues between a physician and two of his patients, Mandeville’s Treatise mirrors the digressive structure of a talking cure. Thanks to the soothing and enlightening effects of this casual conversation, the physician Mandeville demonstrates the healing power of words for a class of patients that he presents as men of learning who need above all to be addressed in their own language. Mandeville’s aim was to delineate his own cure for hypochondria and hysteria, which consisted of a talking cure followed by diet and exercise, but also to discuss the practice of medicine in England and continental Europe at a time when physicians were beginning to lose ground to apothecaries. Opposing a purely theoretical approach to medicine, Mandeville takes up the principles presented by Francis Bacon, Thomas Sydenham, and Giorgio Baglivi, and advocates a medical practice based on experience and backed up by time-tested theories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319577814
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	09/18/2017
Series:	International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées , #223
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	238
File size:	609 KB

About the Author

Sylvie Kleiman-Lafon is assistant professor in English literature at the University of Paris VIII. A specialist of XVIIIth century British literature, she has mainly written on XVIIIth-century Scotland, British literature of the XVIIIth century, translation in England and France during the Enlightenment and the relationship between medicine and literature.

Table of Contents

Note on the Text.- Introduction.- Chapter 1. Mandeville’s 1711 preface.- Chapter 2. Mandeville’s 1730 preface.- Chapter 3. First dialogue.- Chapter 4. Second dialogue.- Chapter 5. Third dialogue.- Select bibliography.- Index.

Editorial Reviews

By exploring the deep‐time history of psychoanalysis, the book will be of interest to a broad audience, from psychoanalysts to students, curious readers, and historians of mentality. It is a reflection on the very essence of psychoanalysis and will serve a basis for further explorations in multiple directions. … Mandeville's text and the added information form a well-balanced sum of primary data and explanatory material, which will serve as a basis for psychoanalytic analysis and introspection.” (Alain Touwaide, Doody's Book Reviews, January, 2018)

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Alain Touwaide, PhD (Ronin Institute)
Description: In the early 18th century, the Dutch physician Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733) published a work on "hypochondria" and "hysteria." We have here a reproduction of the second edition of this book, along with all necessary critical information for a good understanding of the work, from a short biography of the author to biographical notes on the many other authors cited and an index of names. The book includes footnotes with short explanations of the text, and longer endnotes with contextual data, explanations, and cross-references within the book.
Purpose: Mandeville's work is in a certain way a prehistory of psychoanalysis. The author appropriately reintroduces it for a better understanding of the long-term history of psychoanalytical investigation. She let the book speak for itself, adding in the footnotes and endnotes the necessary information for an exact understanding, but without covering it with excessive erudition. The reading is informative and pleasant at the same time, as the original book was written in a lively dialogue format.
Audience: By exploring the deep-time history of psychoanalysis, the book will be of interest to a broad audience, from psychoanalysts to students, curious readers, and historians of mentality. It is a reflection on the very essence of psychoanalysis and will serve a basis for further explorations in multiple directions. The author has explored the topic for several years and fully masters Mandeville's work, with all its facets and components. Mandeville's text and the added information form a well-balanced sum of primary data and explanatory material, which will serve as a basis for psychoanalytic analysis and introspection.
Features: After a short introduction (pp. 1-13, with a bibliography), the book provides a reproduction of the 1730 edition of Mandeville's "Treatise of the Hypochondriack and Hysterick Diseases in three Dialogues" (pp. 17-185). Given the nature of the text, in the form of a dialogue, the reading is pleasant, and even witty. Short footnotes accompany the text mostly to identify some literary references and to stress differences between the editions of the book. The text is followed by 205 endnotes (pp. 187-224) with scholarly material, including references to Mandeville's prior work, modern historical and academic research, explanations of historical and literary allusions in Mandeville's book, and a discussion of the differences between the editions in some passages. Short biographical notices about the 82 authors cited in Mandeville's work follow (pp. 225-234). An index (unfortunately limited to proper names, and not thematic) concludes this elegantly produced and clearly printed book.
Assessment: As part of the series, International Archives of the History of Ideas, this book is principally a document that makes an older text easily available for present-day consultation, in contrast to having to read it on the screen of a computer. Its value goes beyond this, however, as the original book (faithfully reproduced) is accompanied by all the necessary material (judiciously chosen) for a good understanding.

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