WASSON, Valentina Pavlovna, and R. Gordon WASSON. Mushrooms, Russia and History. New York: Pantheon Books. 1957.
Two vols. 4to. Original green-grey cloth with red and gilt lettering pieces to spines, in original glassine wrappers and grey cloth slipcase; pp. xxi, [1], 212, [4]; xii, [213]- 433, [3]; 82 plates, many in colour, with tissue guards, numerous text illustrations; slipcase a little marked, glassine wrappers with portions missing from spines, spines slightly sunned, otherwise very good indeed.
[offered with:]
BURTON, Robert. The Anatomy of Melancholy. What it is, with all the kinds, causes, symptomes, prognosticks, & severall cures of it. Oxford: John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps. 1624.
Folio. Modern full brown mottled morocco, triple fillets in blind to sides, spine with raised bands and gilt central tools; pp. [4], 64; [4], 188, [4], 189-332, [2], 333-379, 370-557, [7], woodcut device to title page, woodcut initials and headpieces; L-shaped tear to bottom margin of E3 without loss but affecting text, occasional light underlining and marginal symbols in red and black ink, occasional spots but generally very bright and clean, very good.
Two groundbreaking works in the history of neuroscience and the study of the mind: a first edition of Mushrooms, Russia and History, no. 94 of a limited edition of 512, inscribed to flyleaf by both authors, offered with a second edition of Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy.
The Wassons' extraordinary book is a history of hallucinogenic mushroom use. Despite the title, Russia is only one pit-stop on this tour through the fungal traditions of Europe and South America as they look at varying cultural responses to mushrooms, positing the idea that the mycophilia of the Slavic people and the mycophobia of the Anglo-Saxons stem from different folkloric traditions.
First published in 1621 and presented here in its second edition, The Anatomy of Melancholy is a landmark medical textbook on the subject of melancholia, known today as clinical depression.
Despite being separated by three hundred years and completely different understandings of neurochemistry, these works share much in common. Each one is a pioneering work in its field, bringing together a wide range of cultural and scientific references to forge a new vision of how society, custom and chemistry shape our minds. Burton's book is a long established literary classic the appeal of which extends beyond the purely psychiatric - it was one of Samuel Johnson's favourite reads - while the Wassons' work had a deep influence not only on psychopharmacological research but on also on the counterculture of the 1960s, despite R. Gordon's rather staid profession as a vice-president of the J.P. Morgan bank. Both books are written from intense personal experience: on the one hand, a married couple's shared revelation at the effects of hallucinogens; on the other, an Oxford scholar's profound suffering from depression. They explore the loop of external influences on our brain chemistry, our subsequent feelings of happiness, fulfilment and self-worth, and our resulting relationship with the outside world. The Wassons are looking for transcendence while Burton is more concerned with survival, and to take their works together is to see two complementary approaches to the same goal - an escape from the limitations of the human mind.
(Please note these books are available for purchase individually).
SKU: 2124104