3 According to Morningside’s superintendent, Thomas Clouston, such cases were becoming increasingly common. Moses was considered such an exemplary case of melancholia that Joseph Brown, assisting physician at the asylum, proceeded to write up the case as an article for the Edinburgh Medical Journal later that year, presented as a typical case of ‘suicidal melancholia’ that served as a ‘striking illustration of the great difficulty there exists in preventing a determined suicidal patient from accomplishing his object’. Once inside the walls of Morningside, his case notes tell of repeated attempts by the patient to take his own life. Moses was what today might be referred to as a ‘textbook case’ of melancholia in the late-Victorian period: profound depression of mind, delusions of a religious nature, and persistent suicidal tendencies. He was given the diagnosis melancholia, with a special reference made to his persistent suicidal tendencies. The patient’s recent mental symptoms were listed as ‘delusions such as that his soul is lost, that he ought to die, and thinks he is committing great sins’. Upon admission, the attending physician determined that his ‘depression’ was ‘considerable’, and made a note of his ‘suicidal tendencies’, which consisted in ‘taking belladonna, refusing food, &c’. He was reported as having taken ‘a poisonous dose of Belladonna’, and his father and brother had seen it necessary to have him sent to the asylum since they felt that he could not ‘be left alone’ for the fear ‘that he would seek to destroy himself’. The two certifying physicians testified that the patient had communicated to them a belief that his soul was lost. On the medical certificate and reception order that accompanied his arrival it was stated that the patient, Moses B., was ‘suicidal’. The topic of discussion? His frolicsome child, who has no apparent interest in grim-reaping! Featuring an unfathomable number of lines which have been hand-chiseled into inked clay, this labor of love by Nicholas Gurewitch invokes the morbid humor of his comic strip (The Perry Bible Fellowship) and the spooky silent-film qualities of the late Edward Gorey.' Member ofĬataloging source Midwest hoopla (Digital media service) Gurewitch, Nicholas, Dewey number 741.On 15 August 1874, a young doctor was admitted as a private patient into the Royal Edinburgh Asylum at Morningside.

Language eng Summary 'Death arrives in this darkly humorous and brilliantly illustrated tale created by Nicholas Gurewitch, author of The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack! Death becomes a patient of a recently-bereaved psychoanalyst. Bereavement - Comic books, strips, etc.Psychotherapist and patient - Comic books, strips, etc.Label Notes on a case of melancholia, or, A little death Title Notes on a case of melancholia, or, A little death Creator