"Asian Exclusion Zone" from the 1917 Immigration Law. The "Asian Exclusion Zone" corresponded to the area enclosed by the thick black line, encompassing the entirety of South and Southeast Asia. The 1917 Act stipulated that no one from these regions was allowed to immigrate into the US except in very specific cases.
title page and selected illustrations of 1887 book 'Les Maladies Épidémiques de l'Esprit : Sorcellerie, magnétisme, morphinisme, délire des grandeurs' [Epidemic Diseases of the Soul : Witchcraft, magnetism, morphinism, and delusions of grandeur] by Dr. Paul Regnard
front cover & spine, title label, title page, plates, and selected illustrated pages of 1885 book 'Études cliniques sur la grande hystérie ou hystéro-épilepsie' [Clinical studies on major hysteria, or hystero-epilepsy] by Dr Paul Richer, preface by J.M. Charcot
front cover, title page, preface letter, and figure 4 of 1881 disseration 'L'électricité statique et l'hystérie : mémoire précédé d'une lettre a M. le professeur Charcot' [Static electricity and hysteria : disseration preceded by a letter to Prof. Charcot] by Docteur A. Arthuis
1924 illustration by Albert Reid depicting the spirits of presidential assassins John Wilkes Booth and Charles Julius Guiteau. The tagline "they might have gone free with modern procedure" is a reference to the then-popular practice of determining mental illness via family history, informed by eugenic conceptions of heredity and degeneration. According to this logic, these two assassins would not have been executed in "modern times" because psychiatrists would have identified them as "insane" and therefore incapable of understanding the nature of their actions, becoming institutionalized in asylums instead of executed by the state.
"Legislation and Lunacy: We shut the sane man and let-the happy crank wander at large."
Illustration from Puck magazine discussing the contemporary non-specialist perpsective on the implications of the insanity defense - letting criminals get off lightly with an asylum sentance while also allowing the mentally ill to cause trouble in society.
Poem about Charles Julius Guiteau, assassin of President Garfield. The poem was written by Rev. James Ballard of Red Oak, IA, and sent to John K. Porter, prosecuting attorney in the trial of Guiteau.
Note fragment on insanity, possibly written by John K. Porter during the trial of Charles Julius Guiteau. Follows the M'Naghten Rule for determining insanity, whereby the accused needs to have been unable to tell the difference between right and wrong when committing a criminal act in order to be deemed insane under the law.
Fragment of W. W. Godding's Letter Submitted to President Arthur on June 22, 1882. This letter asked President Arthur to establish a Commission of Lunacy to determine Charles Julius Guiteau's insanity. The President rejected Godding's plea and Guiteau was executed 8 days later.
