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Dr. Allan McLane Hamiltons Recollections throw light on some of the historic murder trials in which he took part...as an alienist and as citizen he is one of our foremost Americans. -NY Times, Jan. 14, 1917
Shortly after Thaw murdered Stanford White in New York City...Thaws family retained Allan McLane Hamilton (I1848-1919), the leading forensic alienist of his era...interviewed Thaw on four occasions. - American Madness, The Rise and Fall of Dementia Praecox (2011)
Allan McLane Hamilton, Recollections of an Alienist (1916)...enjoyed a fabulously successful career bridging newspaper writing, medicine, psychiatry, and politics. - Quarantine! East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York City Epidemics of 1892 (2022)
In 1916...Allan McLane Hamilton released a memoir in which he recounted having witnessed a grisly double execution in SinSings famous electric chair several years earlier. - The Last Gasp, The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber (2010)
The most noted alienist alive...a noteworthy book. -The Bookseller
One of the most distinguished alienists of his generation, summoned to examine the murderers of Garfield and McKinley. - Book News

What is a 19th Century alienist? Were they Men In Black types who hunted down aliens, or were they nothing more than simple psychiatrists?

As grandson of Alexander Hamilton and standing at the head of his own profession, he came into close contact with many prominent men and was personally associated, either as expert witness or adviser, with many of the famous insanity trials of his times.

In his 1916 book Recollections of an Alienist Dr. Hamilton relates his experiences through a long life of interest, not lacking in excitement, in connection with his study of the diseases of the mind. His experiences were not by any means confined to the courtroom and were sometimes attended with great danger.

As a specialist on insanity, he was summoned to examine the murderers of Garfield and McKinley, and appeared prominently as an expert witness in the trials of Molineaux, Patrick, Thaw, Robin and others. His chapters on capital punishment, and American legal procedure, are quite as absorbing as his anecdotes on Edwin Booth, Mary Baker Eddy, Max Beerbohm, Henry Irving and other folk of brilliant attainment and personal fame.

So varied have been Dr. Hamiltons experiences as a New York physician, traveler, and expert witness in criminal cases, this collection of reminiscences constitute a pretty thorough review of the countrys history during those seventy years. A happy faculty of intimately characterizing his subjects in well chosen anecdotes goes far toward making the book entertaining. His recollections go back to the days when Williamsburgh was a country village, when his Grandmother Hamilton used to entertain him with letters from Dolly Madison; when Washington Irving wrote verse to his mother.

As a young man he sailed to South America in the old paddle-wheel steamer, Colorado, in company with the famous Agassiz Expedition. He traveled extensively, and he recalls some of the most stirring incidents of the Rebellion and of post-bellum times.

In his professional work he was identified with many of the conspicuous medico-legal cases of the post few decades. All these activities are recounted in a manner that shows the author to be a born teller of stories. Dr. Hamilton speaks his mind plainly, and is evidently a man of sharp opinions and prejudices. It is difficult to nick out any portion of the book that is more interesting than others; there is not a dull page in the book.

Much curious, out-of-the-usual information on criminal insanity, the mistakes of capital punishment, and the fallacy of the electric chair, is contained in these entertaining reminiscences. Few men in this country represent so broad a part of American life. His book is one long panorama of interesting figures and is full of much of that kind of history which never finds a place in the formal history books.

About the author:

Allan McLane Hamilton was born October 6, 1848, and died November 23, 1919. He was an American psychiatrist of Scots descent, specialising in criminal insanity. He was a founder of the New York Psychiatrical Society. He was a Professor of Psychiatry at Cornell Medical College in New York. He was the grandson of Alexander Hamilton, the of whom he wrote a book The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton

The Alienist is an also a period drama mystery series based on the novel of same name by Caleb Carr.

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"Dr. Allan McLane Hamiltons Recollections throw light on some of the historic murder trials in which he took part...as an alienist and as citizen he is one of our foremost Americans." -NY Times, Jan. 14, 1917
"Shortly after Thaw murdered Stanford White in New York City...Thaws family retained Allan McLane Hamilton (I1848-1919), the leading forensic alienist of his era...interviewed Thaw on four occasions." - American Madness, The Rise and Fall of Dementia Praecox (2011)
"Allan McLane Hamilton, Recollections of an Alienist (1916)...enjoyed a fabulously successful career bridging newspaper writing, medicine, psychiatry, and politics." - Quarantine! East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York City Epidemics of 1892 (2022)
"In 1916...Allan McLane Hamilton released a memoir in which he recounted having witnessed a grisly double execution in SinSings famous electric chair several years earlier." - The Last Gasp, The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber (2010)
"The most noted alienist alive...a noteworthy book." -The Bookseller
"One of the most distinguished alienists of his generation, summoned to examine the murderers of Garfield and McKinley." - Book News

What is a 19th Century "alienist"? Were they Men In Black types who hunted down aliens, or were they nothing more than simple psychiatrists?

In his 1916 book "Recollections of an Alienist" Dr. Hamilton relates his experiences through a long life of interest, not lacking in excitement, in connection with his study of the diseases of the mind. His experiences were not by any means confined to the courtroom and were sometimes attended with great danger.

So varied have been Dr. Hamiltons experiences as a New York physician, traveler, and expert witness in criminal cases, this collection of reminiscences constitute a pretty thorough review of the countrys history during those seventy years. A happy faculty of intimately characterizing his subjects in well chosen anecdotes goes far toward making the book entertaining. His recollections go back to the days when Williamsburgh was a country village, when his "Grandmother Hamilton" used to entertain him with letters from "Dolly" Madison; when Washington Irving wrote verse to his mother.

As a young man he sailed to South America in the old paddle-wheel steamer, "Colorado," in company with the famous Agassiz Expedition. He traveled extensively, and he recalls some of the most stirring incidents of the Rebellion and of post-bellum times.

About the author:

"The Alienist" is an also a period drama mystery series based on the novel of same name by Caleb Carr.

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Recollections of an Alienist, Personal and Professional

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