Book Description

The Roots of Modern Hypnosis is a compendium of three classic volumes on hypnosis, written by some of its most important practitioners. Read in sequence, these books provide a fascinating explication of the history of hypnosis, from the animal magnetism, mesmerism, and universal fluid of Franz Anton Mesmer as utilized by Dr. James Esdaile in his surgical facilities in India, to the First Modern (1961) International Congress on Hypnosis in New York City. The three texts contained in The Roots of Modern Hypnosis are: Hypnosis in Medicine and Surgery (originally entitled Mesmerism in India), by James Esdaile, M.D. The book contains an introduction and Supplemental Reports on Hypnoanesthesia by William S. Kroger, M.D. The original text was published in 1850; a revised edition, containing Dr. Krogers introduction and notes, was published in 1957 by The Institute for Research in Hypnosis Publication Society and The Julian Press, Inc. The Fundamental Principles of Hypnosis (originally entitled The Law of Suggestion) by Stanley L. Krebs, Ph.D., published in 1906. The work was revised by Henry Guze, Ph.D., and republished in 1957, with a new introduction by Milton V. Kline, Ph.D., by The Institute for Research in Hypnosis Publication Society and The Julian Press, Inc. The Nature of Hypnosis: Transactions of the 1961 [First Modern] International Congress on Hypnosis, edited and with an introduction by Milton V. Kline, Ph.D., Director of The Institute for Research in Hypnosis and Psychotherapy, and a Foreword by Lewis Wolberg, M.D., of The Postgraduate Center for Psychotherapy. The book was jointly published by the Institute and the Center. Milton V. Kline, Ph.D., Director of The Institute for Research in Hypnosis and Psychotherapy, and of The Institute for Research in Hypnosis Publication Society, conceived the idea of publishing the current edition of each of these texts under a single title, The Roots of Modern Hypnosis. Dr. Kline has been widely acknowledged as one of the foremost experts on medical, psychological, clinical, therapeutic and experimental hypnotherapy and hypnoanalysis, with more than 50 years of experience in using, teaching and conducting research in hypnosis. His recognition and honors have been worldwide. Hypnosis in Medicine and Surgery by James Esdaile, M.D. James Esdaile, M.D., was a young surgeon who was put in charge of a hospital for paupers and criminals in Hooghly, India, and then in charge of a medical facility in Calcutta, in the 1840s. While in India, he made some of the most significant contributions to the history and evolution of hypnosis as a technique for pain control since it was discovered by Franz Anton Mesmer, circa 1775. In addition, despite the conditions under which he worked (heat, lack of proper sanitation, etc.), Dr. Esdaile proved conclusively that hypnosis was a reliable and relatively risk-free method for inducing deep anesthesia under which surgical operations could take place. While in India, Dr. Esdaile performed approximately 300 major operations, as well as many more minor procedures, on patients under the Mesmeric trance. Among the cases which he treated were the removal of tumors from even the most sensitive parts of the body; the amputation of legs, arms and breasts; the extraction of teeth; the repair of bent limbs; and the cure of headaches, colic, eye inflammations, convulsions and nerve pain. In some cases, Dr. Esdaile was able to hypnotize his patients so deeply that their pupils failed to contract even when exposed to bright sunlight. As Dr. Kroger points out in his introduction to the revised edition of Hypnosis in Medicine and Surgery, one of the most important aspects of Dr. Esdailes work involves the induction of an extraordinarily deep state of hypnosi