ii s. iv. SEPT. 23, mi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
251
LUNATICS AND PRIVATE LUNATIC
ASYLUMS.
(US. iv. 209.)
THIS subject has been frequently introduced in novels, both previous to and since the publication of ' Hard Cash.' Amongst those I have read, I would mention ' Valentine Vox the Ventriloquist,' by Henry Cockton ;
- The Parricide,' by G. W. M. Reynolds
(issued in Reynolds' Miscellany, and reprinted in "Dicks' English Library"); 'Amy Lawrence ; or, the Freemason's Daughter,' by J. F. Smith (London Journal, 1850 ; reprinted in new London Journal about 1890, and, I think, as a shilling volume about the same time) ; and ' Left to Them- selves ' (CasseWs Family Paper, 1860). I cannot now recall the name of the author of this tale, though she was well known as a religious and moral writer : the story was illustrated by Skill.
In 1858 the subject of private asylums was greatly discussed in the press, one or two sensational cases having been brought before the law courts. It was, indeed, chiefly from the newspaper reports that the novelists sketched their incidents. We should, however, I think, always make allowance for exaggeration as regards the alleged ill-treatment of patients.
HERBERT B. CLAYTON. 39, Renfrew Road, Lower Kennirigtou Lane.
If MR. THOMAS HERBERT is referring to
- Valentine Vox the Ventriloquist,' which
has a plot answering his requirements, he must be alluding to a late edition. The first was published in 1840, the next in 1853 ; others appeared in 1870, 1878, and 1882.
The first edition of ' Hard Cash ' was in 1863, followed by others in 1868 and 1872.
A. RHODES.
I fancy that MR. THOMAS HERBERT may be thinking of ' Valentine Vox,' by Henry Cockton, of which the thirty-sixth thousand was issued by George Routledge & Co. in 1855. The chief purpose of that work was to draw attention to the cruelties and horrors connected with private lunatic asylums. The torture of a sane patient by tickling the soles of his feet with a feather, just before the visiting Commissioners entered his room (chap, xxx.), made an indelible impression on my mind. ST. SWITHIN.
I presume that MR. HERBERT refers to
the book entitled ' My Experiences in a
Lunatic Asylum,' "by a Sane Patient,"
which was published by Chatto & Windus
over thirty years ago, price 5s. A review
of it appeared in The Literary World of
14 February, 1879. A. FROOD.
Probably the book intended is ' A Prodigal Daughter,' anonymous, published about 1879. G. W. E. R.
[MR. J. T. PAGE, MATILDA POLLARD, and L. M. R. all refer to 'Valentine Vox.']
STRAWBERRY HILL : ' DESCRIPTION OF
THE VILLA,' 1774 (11 S. iv. 207). This
little work is exceedingly scarce, and though
a collector of " Walpoliana," I have not
met with a copy in the catalogues of auc-
tioneers or booksellers for many years past.
Mr. Eyton's copy was bought by Lilly the
bookseller for the small sum of three shil-
lings. It was, I think, wrongly dated 1774.
About 1760 Walpole began to have catalogues of his collections printed for the use of his visitors. The first seems to have been a ' Catalogue of Pictures and Drawings in the Holbein-Chamber at Strawberry- Hill,' a little pamphlet of 8 pages, which is known to bibliographers. At the sale of the Darner Collection by Messrs. Hodgson & Co. on 30 April, 1902, a copy of the pamphlet formed lot 127, and was sold for the high sum of 2Sl. 10s. The next issue consisted of ' Curiosities in the Glass Closet in the Great Bedchamber,' a tract of 4 pages, of which a copy (lot 128) was sold from the Darner Collection for \l. 16s. As the Great Bedchamber was not built on to the house till 1770, this catalogue could not have been printed till after that date. A third catalogue was that of the ' Pictures, Curiosities, &c., in the Cabinet of Enamels and Miniatures, and in the Glass Cases on each side of it,' a pamphlet of 18 pages, of which two copies were sold at the same time for \l. 10s. each (lots 129, 130), and two more in the supplementary Darner Sale on 23 October, 1902 (lots 415, 416), when the price fell in each case to 14s. The last two items do not seem to have been recorded by any bibliographer, and Messrs. Hodgson suggest that all three pamphlets may have formed part of the ' Description ' of which MR. E. P. MERRITT is in search, and which seems to have been issiied in 1772.
I should be glad to know what became of the collection of Strawberry Hill publications
