Memoirs of my nervous illness

242 Pages·2000·8.17 MB·English

by  Daniel Paul Schreber

NEW YORK REVIEW BOOKS
CLASSICS
MEMOIRS OF
MY NERVOUS ILLNESS
DANIEL PAUL SCHREBER1 1842-19w1a1s)t hes ono ft he
preeminneinnte teenth-cGeenrtmuarnmy e dicaault horoint y
child-reBaerfionhrgie.ms e ntaclo llaphsese e,r vaesdt hec hief
justiocfte h es upremceo urotft hes tatoefS axony.
ROSEMARY DINNAGiE st hea uthoorfO ne toO ne:E xperi­
enceos fP sychotheraSphyel. i veinsL ondon.
MEMOIRS OF
MY NERVOUS ILLNESS
DaniPealuS lc hreber
•
Introductionb y
ROSEMARY DINNAGE
Translateda nd Edited by
IDA MACALPINE
and
RICHARD A. HUNTER
NEW YORK REVIEW BOOKS
New York
THIS IS A NEW YORK REVIEW BOOK
PUBLISHED BY THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
Copyright Cl 1955 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
Introduction Copyright Cl 2000 by Rosemary Dinnage
All rights reserved.
Reprinted by arrangement with Harvard University Press
This edition published in 2000 in the United States of America by
The New York Review of Books
435 Hudson Street
CONTENTS
New York, NY 10014
www.nyrb.com
57910864
Library of Congress Cataloging.in.Publication Data
Schreber, Daniel Paul, 1842-1911. Introduction xi
[Denkwiirdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken. English]
Memoirs of my nervous illness / by Daniel Paul Schreber ;
MEMOIRS OF MY NERVO US ILL NESS
introduction by Rosemary Dinnage i translated and edited by Ida
Macalpine, Richard A. Hunter.
p. cm. Preface 3
Reprint. Originally published: London: W. Dawson, 1955.
ISBN 0-940322-20-X Ipbk.: alk. paper) Open letter to Professor Flechsig 7
1. Schreber, Daniel Paul, 1842-1911-Mental health. 2. Paranoia
Patients-Germany Biography. 3. Paranoia Case studies. 1. Title.
RC520.S33A313 2000 MEMO IRS
616.89'7'0092-<1c 21
[B[ 99-35601 Introduction IS
ISBN 978·0-940322·20·2
God and Immortality 19
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.
2 Crisis in God's realms? Soul murder 33
Gtateful acknowledgement is made to Philip Smith and,
especially, Rosebud Pettet for their help in obtaining the
3 (Not printed) 43
image from Harry Smith's film Heaven and Earth Magic
that appears on the cover.
Contents Contents
4 Personal experiences during the first and the 14 "Tested souls"; their fate.
beginning of the second nervous illness 44 Personal experiences continued 176
5 Continuation. Nerve-language linner voices). 15 "Play-with-human-beings" and "Miracles."
Compulsive thinking. Unmanning under Cries of help. Talking birds 185
certain circumstances a postulate of the
Order of the World 54 16 Compulsive thinking.
Its effects and manifestation 197
6 Personal experiences continued.
Visions. "Seer of spirits" 69 17 Continuation of the above; "Picturing"
in the sense of the soul-language 207
7 Personal experiences continued; peculiar
manifestations of illness. Visions 85 18 God and the processes of creation;
spontaneous generation; insects created
8 Personal experiences while in Dr. Pierson's by miracles. IIDirection of gaze."
Asylum. "Tested souls" 99 System-of-examination 215
9 Transfer to Sonnenstein. Changes in the 19 Continuation of the above. God's
contact with rays. liThe writing-dawn-system"; omnipotence and man's freedom of will 225
"Tying-to-celestial-bodies" 115
20 Egocentricity of the rays regarding my person.
10 Personal experiences at Sonnenstein. Further developments of personal affairs 233
"Interferences" accompanying contact with
the rays. "Creation of a false feeling" 130 21 Blessedness and voluptuousness in their
mutual relation. Consequences of this
11 Bodily integrity damaged by miracles 141 relation for personal behavior 242
12 Content of the voices' talk. 22 Final considerations. Future prospects 253
"Soul-conception." Soul-language.
Continuation of personal experiences 152 POSTSCRIPTS
13 The soul's state of Blessedness as a factor in First Series
attraction. Consequences thereof 163 Miracles 263
Contents Contents
II Relatioofnd ivinaen dh umani ntelligence 265 B Dr.W eber'rse poratsC ountayn dA sylum
MedicaOlf ficoefr2 8thN ovembe1r9 00 337
IIIP lay-with-human-beings 266
C Groundosf a ppeal 349
IV Hallucinations 268
o Dr.W eber'esx perrte porotf5 thA pri1l9 02 388
V Then aturoefG odm anifesttehdr ough
nerve-contact 277 E Judgmenotft heR oyaSlu periCooru ntry
Courotf D resdeonf 1 4thJ uly1 902 405
VI Final considerations; Miscellaneo2u9s0
Notes 441
VIIC remation 296
SeconSde ries 300
APPENDIX
Essay":I nw hatc ircumstanccaenas p erson
consideirnesda nbee d etainienda nA sylum
againhsitsd eclarweidl l?" 313
Postscript 322
SeconPdo stscript 323
ADDENDA
DOCUMENTS FROM THE COURT PROCEEDINGS
PLACING ME UNDER TUTElAGE
A Medicaelx pertr'esp orttot heC ourt
of9 thD ecembe1r8 99b yD r.W eber 327
INTRODUCTION
5 ( H ERR 'E5 MB emoirso fM y NervouIslln essm ustb et he
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somethitnosg a ya bouStc hreber.
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thew orldn:o to nlyto e xposteh en aturoeft hei llnehsesh ad
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tingmsa dea tt hep eako fh iisl lnetshseb} o okw asp utt ogether
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Introduction Intrdouction
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xii xiii
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Introudction Introduction
indicraetperde hsosmeods exluoavfleo hri fsa thientr h seh ape firsats yluwma,sp rimarain leyu roanatwoimtiahsg tu,i ding
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