Harrowing portraits of patients at Victorian 'lunatic' hospital

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Faces from the asylum: Harrowing portraits of patients at Victorian 'lunatic' hospital where they were treated for 'mania, melancholia and general paralysis of the insane'

These images were taken in 1869 at West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, by chief neurologist Sir James Crichton-Browne, known as a pioneer in the field. The images are accompanied by detailed case notes and a diagnosis for each patient, such as 'imbecility,' 'simple mania,' and 'acute melancholia'. While some of the images may appear barbaric by modern standards, the asylum actually pioneered the ethical treatment of the mentally ill.