Guyon, Louys

1603

503-504

Lyon

Claude Morillon

Les Diverses leçons de Loys Guyon (...) suivans celles de Pierre Messie (...)

Avant que clorre ce chapitre, je veux amener deux experiences de l'efficace de la Musique, que j'ay veu practiquer sur deux Damoiselles, l'une desquelles estoit de la Marche, près de Garet, jeune, vertueuse, & de passable beauté, qui tomba en telle furie, par un rapport qu'on luy avoit fait, que son mari alloit au change, qu'à tout moment de temps elle se vouloit precipiter tantost dedans un feu, ores par une fenestre, autresfois dans un estang qui estoit près de sa maison, dont elle fut retirée deux fois: c'est pourquoy on commit des gens pour la garder. Les Medecins n'y peurent rien rapporter du leur, mais un seul Capussin religieux, passant par là, & demandant la passade à la maison de ceste Damoiselle, ayant entendu l'estrange cas advenu à ceste Damoiselle, donna advis qu'on eust un joueur de luth, qui ne bougeast de longtemps d'auprès d'elle, & que sans doute cela lui passeroit/504/ & que la nuict on chantast chansons aupres de son lict: ce qui fut executé, & dans trois mois ceste fureur luy passa, & est à présent bien de son esprit.

Greuter, Matthaus

Greuter, Matthaus

The first image comes from the British Museum Research Website, while the second is freely available on the Europeana.eu database (shown as "public domain").

AN546252001

[1587]

Strasbourg

© The Trustees of the British Museum (first image)
Public Domain (second image)

British Museum Research

Europeana.eu

 

 

etching

21 X 30,4 cm

Brambilla, Ambrogio (attr.to)

Brambilla, Ambrogio (attr.to)

AN143071001

1575-1590

© The Trustees of the British Museum

etching

38,8 cm X 50,3 cm

Burton, Robert

1621

Oxford

Henri Cripps

© Wellcome Library, London

The Anatomy of Melancholy

Google Books

Wellcome Images Collection

[The melancholy are] humorous beyond all measure, sometimes profusely laughing, extraordinary merry, and then again weeping without a cause (which is familiar with many gentlewomen), groaning, sighing, pensive, sad, almost distracted:multa absurda fingunt, et a ratione aliena (saith Frambesarius [Nicolas Abraham de La Framboisière]): they feign many absurdities, vain, void of reason: one supposeth himself to be a dog, cock, bear, horse, glass, butter, &c. He is a giant, a dwarf, as strong as an hundred men, a lord, duke, prince, &c. And, if he be told he hath a stinking breath, a great nose, and that he is sick, or inclined to such or such a disease, he believes it eftsoons, and peradventure, by force of imagination, will work it out. Many of them are immoveable, and fixed in their conceits; others vary, upon every object heard or seen. If they see a stageplay, they run upon that a week after; if they hear musick, or see dancing, they have nought but bag-pipes in their brains: if they see a combat, they are all for arms; if abused, an abuse troubles them long after (...).

Droeshout, Martin

AN163662001

1620-1630

London

John Overton

Peter Stent

© The Trustees of the British Museum

To this grave doctor millions do resort

34,8 cm x 40,8cm

Bandello, Matteo

François de Belleforest

1567

Anvers

Jean Waesberghe

Histoires tragiques

Les médecins d'alentour y furent appellez sans qu'ils sceussent juger de la maladie chose quelconque (quelques simptomes qu'ils en veissent) ou quelque inspection d'urine, ou touchement de poux qu'ils y feissent, bien disoient ils, que c'estoit une humeur melancholique, luy distillant du cerveau /199r/ laquelle luy causoit l'alteration de son sens: & toutefois leur art & sçavoir perdit sa force à faire evacuer ce sang grossier, source de telle melancholie. Et pour ce, desesperans de son salut, la main pleine de denirs, se retirerent.

Du Laurens, André

Richard Surphlet

1599

London

Felix Klingston

A Discourse of Melanchoy Diseases

The most pleasent dotage [madness] that ever I read, was of one Sienois, a Gentleman, who had resolved with himself not to piss, but to die rather, and that because he imagined, that when he first pissed, all his town would be drowned. The Physicians showing him, that all his body, and ten thousand more such as his, were not able to contain so much as might drown the least house in the town, could not change his mind from this foolish imagination. In the end they, seeing his obstinacy, and in what danger he put his life, found out a pleasent invention. They caused the next house to be set on fire, & all the bells in the town to ring, they persuaded diverse servants to cry: to the fire, to the fire, and (…) show the Gentleman that there is but one way to save the town, and that it was that he should piss quickly and quench the fire.

Greuter, Matthaus

c. 1600

© Wellcome Library, London

Le Medecin guarissant Phantasie. Purgeant aussi par drogues la folie

Sharp, W

Cibber, Caius Gabriel

Statues of "raving" and "melancholy" madness, each reclining on one half of a broken segmental pediment, formerly crowning the gates at Bethlem [Bedlam] Hospital. Engraving by W. Sharp, 1783, after T. Stothard after C. Cibber, 1680

V0013192

1783

London

© Wellcome Library, London

Statues of raving and melancholy (Bedlam Hospital, London)

13.3 x 20.7 cm