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MILLON

451 - BERTRAND (Alexandre) On Animal Magnetism in France and the J…
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Estimate €30 - €50
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Description
BERTRAND (Alexandre) On Animal Magnetism in France and the Judgements Passed on it by Learned Societies, including the text of the various reports drawn up in 1784 by the commissioners of the Academy of Sciences, the Faculty and the Royal Society of Medicine, and an analysis of the latest sessions of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Mr Husson’s Report, followed by Considerations on the occurrence of ecstasy in magnetic treatments. Paris, Baillière, 1826. In-8 Bradel cardboard binding in marbled paper, spine gilt with red marbled title page (contemporary binding). Some foxing. A rare first edition of this important text in the history of hypnosis. Alexandre Bertrand (1795–1826) occupies a pivotal position in the history of psychic knowledge in the 19th century. Whilst the concept of ‘hypnosis’ had not yet been formalised, he helped to theorise animal magnetism by gradually separating it from its occult connotations. His work stands out for its analysis of early hypnotic practices, which he compares, in a comparative approach, with the phenomena of possession described across religious and cultural traditions. This approach already foreshadows a rational interpretation of altered states of consciousness and establishes Bertrand as one of the precursors of the doctrine of suggestion, which the Nancy School would systematise and integrate, at the end of the 19th century, into the emerging field of scientific psychology.
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About the sale Bibliophilia (sale without a live event)
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Auction time 09/09/2026 at 1:00 PM
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