Letters on Mesmerism

Harriet Martineau (18021876) Was A British Writer Who Was One Of The First Social Theorists To Examine All Aspects Of A Society Including Class Religion National Character And The Status Of Women. Seriously Ill In The Early 1840S She Turned To Alternative Remedies And Underwent A Course Of Mesmerism To Which She Attributed Her Remarkable Restoration To Health. She Published Her Account Of The Treatment In A Series Of Letters In The Athenaeum In December 1844 And Subsequently In Book Form And Her Cure Caused A Sensation Adding Greatly To Public Interest In Mesmerism. To Her Fury Her Doctor (And Brother-In-Law) T. M. Greenhow Defended His Own Treatment Of Her In A Remarkably Detailed Account Of Her Illness Which She Regarded As A Serious Breach Of Patient Confidentiality And His Pamphlet Is Appended To Martineau''S Work In This Reissue.