Four years behind the bars of "Bloomingdale" or the bankruptcy of law in New York ... A human document based upon the following court documents: the 1897 and 1899 proceedings in New York; the 1901 proceedings in Virginia, and the 1905 proceedings in North Carolina

Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina: Palmetto Press, 1906. First edition, 8vo, pp. [10], 80, 322, 88; 8-page pamphlet of reviews bound in at back; original black cloth, gilt title on spine; board soiled, hinges starting, pen markings on endpaper and a couple pages of review pamphlet, the final leaf of reviews separated and attached to lower pastedown, text clean and sound. The production of the book was a rush job by a private printer. The title on the spine is misplaced, with a stamp on the upper pastedown reading "position of title bookbinder's error" and the index has a similar stamp reading "index sometimes up to five figures out of the way owing to haste in printing." John Armstrong Chanler was an independently wealthy native of New York, who was involuntarily committed to an asylum by his family after he started exhibiting erratic behavior. He escaped from the asylum and successfully sued to prove his sanity. The text covers mostly transcripts relating to his court case, but also some account of his time in Bloomingdale, and a sample of his psychological assertions about the "X-faculty," that led to his initial committal. (Inventory #: 57692)