Niels Ditlev Riegels (1889) Beretninger om St. Hans Hospital og Statens Sindssygeanstalter
Rating: ♥♥♥♥ (Fine)
Fine book, hard cover. Small label mark, has all pages, all leaves present, no tears in paper or spine. Exlib.
This 1889 publication by N.D. Riegels stands as a significant document from a formative period in the history of Danish psychiatry and medical psychology. The late 19th century was marked by rapid developments in the scientific study of the mind, shaped by advances in neurology, early experimental psychology, and the growing ambition to classify and understand mental disorders within a systematic framework. Riegels’ work reflects this intellectual climate and offers insight into the conceptual foundations that would influence Scandinavian psychiatry well into the 20th century.
Som du selv skriver på siden, beskæftiger Riegels sig med centrale medicinsk‑psykologiske problemstillinger, kliniske observationer og tidlige forsøg på at skabe teoretisk sammenhæng i forståelsen af mentale forstyrrelser. His approach combines the dominant biological and neurological models of the period with an emerging interest in psychological processes, individual differences, and the early scientific study of behaviour.
The volume examines the differentiation of symptom patterns, the influence of heredity and temperament, and the relationship between physiological processes and mental states — themes that were central to psychiatric discourse in the decades surrounding 1880–1900. Riegels engages with the broader European debates of the time, including degeneration theory, early nosological systems, and the first attempts to integrate empirical observation with theoretical reflection.
Key themes in the 1889 volume
- early diagnostic and classificatory efforts in Danish psychiatry
- clinical observation and the scientific study of mental disorders
- heredity, temperament, and constitutional factors
- the intersection of neurology, medicine, and emerging psychology
- European debates on psychopathology in the late 19th century
- foundational concepts in Scandinavian mental health history
For researchers, the volume offers valuable primary material for understanding how psychiatric and psychological knowledge was conceptualized in Denmark during a formative period, and how early clinicians navigated the interplay between biological, psychological, and social explanatory models.
Collector’s Note
Late‑19th‑century psychiatric and medical‑psychological works are increasingly rare, and Riegels’ 1889 volume is of particular interest due to its role in documenting the intellectual foundations of modern Danish psychiatry. The book is a strong addition to collections focused on early psychopathology, the history of psychiatric classification, and the development of scientific psychology in Scandinavia. Well‑preserved copies from this era are especially uncommon and highly valued by scholars and institutional libraries.
Keywords (SEO)
- N.D. Riegels Danish psychiatry
- 19th‑century psychopathology
- Scandinavian mental health history
- early diagnostic theory
- medical psychology Denmark
- history of psychiatric classification
- neurology and early psychology
