Jean-Baptiste LOUYER-VILLERMAY , MANUSCRIT Amnésie... Lot n° 9044

[MANUSCRIT] Jean-Baptiste Louyer-Villermay's manuscript constitutes a real event in the history of knowledge of mnesic phenomena. It anticipates the later work of Gratacap, Sollier, and Bergson. Jean-Baptiste Louyer-Villermay, a doctor from Rennes, was known and appreciated for his work as a hospital doctor and in particular for his heroic action towards the Vendée soldiers, who were able to escape from the Convention. A former student of Philippe Pinel, he distinguished himself in his work on hypochondria, nymphomania and deviant behaviour, as evidenced by his articles in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Médicales on the possessed and lycanthpopy. The medical dictionaries of this period, intended for a cultivated public as well as for fellow doctors, recruited the best specialists for their articles. From the very first page of the manuscript, Jean-Baptiste Louyer-Villermay breaks away from the doctrinal tradition of his predecessors. As a modernist, he is immediately part of the powerful neurological movement that was just emerging. His limpid, precise style, full of references to the ancients, demonstrates an ability to think about the world from a base of intellectual knowledge of real depth. He summons Aristotle, Montaigne, Pascal, Descartes and others to construct the modern physiognomy of memory. "(...) memory is never more than the history of the past, inscribed in us; a passive faculty, a humble recorder of all the acts of human life and world events: everyone accuses its handmaiden of neglect and forgetfulness. This handmaiden will obviously become our ruthless mistress as soon as she fails us; her absence engenders a suffering that becomes pathological. His conception of memory anticipates the discoveries of Alzheimer's and makes the very recent word "amnesia" "practicable". He makes it accessible to all and modernizes its use. His explanations are didactic and very colourful. "The words they retain ((deaf people)) for a long time are those of a more familiar use that they recall ideas of attachment or needs, for example: dad, mom, (...) dodo. But they end up forgetting these words which form the last ring of articulated language and they lose the habit of pronouncing them. The voice being no longer exercised, producing no sounds, is lost entirely; mutism then becomes the infallible consequence, and the child, who in principle was only deaf, gradually becomes deaf and dumb. The manuscript traces this long search with as many subtleties as vulgar thoughts (permanence of traditions); the use of alcohol as a sedative and masturbation as aggravating amnesia, are picturesque proofs. "It has been said that, in order to preserve memory, it is necessary to cultivate it, and that the morning hour is the most favourable for this work. It is true that the memory needs to be exercised, but an excess of exercise, especially in extreme youth and in a very advanced age, exposes us to unfortunate accidents. Exceptional manuscript of Jean-Baptiste Louyer-Villermay of 44 pages (recto) on 44 sheets (sd). This original manuscript is largely corrected and crossed out by its author. Missing at the bottom of the first leaf with loss of text but no loss of meaning. information: Jean-Baptiste Louyer-Villermay MANUSCRIT entitled "Amnesia". 44 pages. Missing at the bottom of the first leaf with loss of text but without loss of meaning. Exceptional item. Good condition.