Hypnotism : a history / Derek Forrest ; foreword by Anthony Storr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Forrest, Derek.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hypnotism--History.

Hypnotism.

History.

Physical Description:

xviii, 334 pages ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Penguin, 2000.

Summary:

When Anton Mesmer began to cure patients with 'animal magnetism.', he initiated a controversy in the medical profession that continues to this day. His theory of a universal fluid in the human body that could be regulated by magnetic influence was refined and developed by his disciples, largely in France, Britain and the USA, until it became the hypnotism we know of today.

Taking us through Mesmer's extraordinary life and the work of subsequent pioneers, including the somnambulists with their supposed paranormal powers, Forrest introduces us to a range of extraordinary characters. These include Charcot, Freud's mentor, and the famously eccentric Dr Elliotson, whose continued advocacy of mesmerism cost him his position as Physician to University College Hospital in 1838. Using many quotations from original sources and exploring the dramatic events of two hundred and fifty years of hypnosis, Hypnotism: A History is an enlightening study of an intriguing and controversial therapy.

Contents:

1 The Discovery 1

2 Mesmer in Paris 17

3 Year of Crisis 37

4 Aftermath 57

5 Somnambulism 70

6 Minor Magnetists 84

7 Vision Without Eyes 110

8 The Spread of Magnetism to Britain and the USA 125

9 Elliotson and the Okey Sisters 136

10 The Mesmeric Campaign 169

11 Braid and Hypnotism 193

12 Charcot at the Salpetriere 213

13 The Triumph of Suggestion 229

14 The Twentieth Century 254.

Notes:

Originally published: as The evolution of hypnotism. Forfar: Black Ace, 1999.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 278-321) and index.

ISBN:

0140280405

OCLC:

45304859