University of Chicago Press
Mesmerized: Powers of Mind in Victorian Britain
Regular price
$11.95 USD
Regular price
Sale price
$11.95 USD
Unit price
per
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Couldn't load pickup availability
Title: Mesmerized: Powers of Mind in Victorian Britain
Author: Alison Winter
E: 1724639
ISBN: 9780226902197
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 1998
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Edition: 1
Number of Pages: 480
Condition Note: Clean, unmarked copy with some edge wear. Good binding. Dust jacket included if issued with one. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.
Publisher Description: Across Victorian Britain, in castles and cottages, rectories and pubs, and even hospitals and churches, thousands of women and hundreds of men were put into mesmeric trances. Apparently reasonable human beings twisted into bizarre postures, called out in unknown languages, and placidly bore assaults that should have caused unbearable pain. The Victorians were literally entranced - mesmerized - with this phenomenon. Alison Winter's cultural history considers this pervasive pursuit as a central aspect of Victorian culture. Winter describes who was entranced, who did the entrancing, why mesmerism was such a compelling experience to so many, and how to others it became powerful evidence of fraud and "unscientific" behavior. Her account traces the history of mesmerism as it moved through Victorian society. As a result, Mesmerized is both a social history of the age and a lively exploration of the contested territory between science and pseudoscience. It provides an illuminating and original perspective on the Victorian social body and on 19th-century culture in general.
Author: Alison Winter
E: 1724639
ISBN: 9780226902197
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 1998
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Edition: 1
Number of Pages: 480
Condition Note: Clean, unmarked copy with some edge wear. Good binding. Dust jacket included if issued with one. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.
Publisher Description: Across Victorian Britain, in castles and cottages, rectories and pubs, and even hospitals and churches, thousands of women and hundreds of men were put into mesmeric trances. Apparently reasonable human beings twisted into bizarre postures, called out in unknown languages, and placidly bore assaults that should have caused unbearable pain. The Victorians were literally entranced - mesmerized - with this phenomenon. Alison Winter's cultural history considers this pervasive pursuit as a central aspect of Victorian culture. Winter describes who was entranced, who did the entrancing, why mesmerism was such a compelling experience to so many, and how to others it became powerful evidence of fraud and "unscientific" behavior. Her account traces the history of mesmerism as it moved through Victorian society. As a result, Mesmerized is both a social history of the age and a lively exploration of the contested territory between science and pseudoscience. It provides an illuminating and original perspective on the Victorian social body and on 19th-century culture in general.
