Catalog of the Robert L. Sadoff Library of Forensic Psychiatry and Legal Medicine

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Oct 2006 by Gravitz, Melvin A

Morman, E.T. (Ed.). (2004). Catalog of the Robert L. SadoffLibrary of Forensic Psychiatry and Legal Medicine. Sagamore Beach, ME: Science History Publications/USA. Reviewed by Melvin A. Gravitz, Ph.D., George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, D.C.

For bibliophiles, historians, and authors interested in forensic behavioral science, legal medicine, and related areas of practice, this 178 page reference is a valuable resource. The editor, together with the compiler Joan McKenzie and with the aid of the noted book expert John Gach, has made available the titles in the unexcelled once privately held library of Robert Sadoff, M.D., a nationally renowned collector of modern and antique books in the foregoing as well as related areas. His collection was accumulated over many years, and in October 2002 ownership was transferred to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (CPP), where the library is presently available for use by scholars. Inquiries to CPP about the Sadoff collection can be made by phone (215-563-3737 x297) or email (cppref@collphyphil.org).

The contents of this catalog, certain of which are relevant to hypnosis, are alphabetically arranged in sections from the 18th to the 20th Century. (There is a readily discernible typographical error in that the final pages, 175-178, of the latter are erroneously listed as the former). Information is provided about the authors' full names, their dates of birth and death, the name of the publishers and cities where the books were published, as well as the number of pages and sizes of each title. Illustrations of some of the books are also printed.

For professionals interested in hypnosis, additional bibliographies of books more specifically pertaining to this modality are available elsewhere. These would include, above all, the catalogs of the extensive collections of the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Other comprehensive compilations of hypnosis books, not all of which are still in print, have been published by Albert Caillet ( 1912), Adam Crabtree (1988), Max Dessoir (1888), and Maurice Tinterow (1983). In addition, some individuals have listed the hypnosis titles in their personal libraries, such as the collection of Melvin A. Gravitz that contains more than 2,000 titles on hypnosis.

References

Caillet, A. (1912). Manuel bibliographique des sciences psychiques ou occultes. Tomes I-III. Paris: Dorbon.

Crabtree, A. (1988). Animal magnetism, early hypnotism, and psychical research 17661925. White Plaines, NY: Kraus International.

Dessoir, M. (1888). Bibliographie des modernen hypnotismus. Berlin: Carl Duncker's Verlag.

Tinterow, M. M. (1983). Catalog of the Maurice M. and Jean H. Tinterow collection of works on mesmerism, animal magnetism, and hypnotism. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University.

Melvin A. Gravitz

Book Review Editor