{"product_id":"the-madness-of-mary-lincoln-9780809330102","title":"The Madness of Mary Lincoln","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER, Russell P. Strange Memorial Book of the Year Award from the Illinois State Historical Society, 2007!\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUniversity Press Books for Public and Secondary Schools\u003c\/i\u003e 2013 edition\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 2005, historian Jason Emerson discovered a steamer trunk formerly owned by Robert Todd Lincoln's lawyer and stowed in an attic for forty years. The trunk contained a rare find: twenty-five letters pertaining to Mary Todd Lincoln's life and insanity case, letters assumed long destroyed by the Lincoln family. Mary wrote twenty of the letters herself, more than half from the insane asylum to which her son Robert had her committed, and many in the months and years after. \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e The Madness of Mary Lincoln\u003c\/i\u003e is the first examination of Mary Lincoln's mental illness based on the lost letters, and the first new interpretation of the insanity case in twenty years. This compelling story of the purported insanity of one of America's most tragic first ladies provides new and previously unpublished materials, including the psychiatric diagnosis of Mary's mental illness and her lost will. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Emerson charts Mary Lincoln's mental illness throughout her life and describes how a predisposition to psychiatric illness and a life of mental and emotional trauma led to her commitment to the asylum. The first to state unequivocally that Mary Lincoln suffered from bipolar disorder, Emerson offers a psychiatric perspective on the insanity case based on consultations with psychiatrist experts. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e This book reveals Abraham Lincoln's understanding of his wife's mental illness and the degree to which he helped keep her stable. It also traces Mary's life after her husband's assassination, including her severe depression and physical ailments, the harsh public criticism she endured, the Old Clothes Scandal, and the death of her son Tad. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003e The Madness of Mary Lincoln\u003c\/i\u003e is the story not only of Mary, but also of Robert. It details how he dealt with his mother's increasing irrationality and why it embarrassed his Victorian sensibilities; it explains the reasons he had his mother committed, his response to her suicide attempt, and her plot to murder him. It also shows why and how he ultimately agreed to her release from the asylum eight months early, and what their relationship was like until Mary's death. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e This historical page-turner provides readers for the first time with the lost letters that historians had been in search of for eighty years. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Southern Illinois University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/02\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780809330102\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.60d","brand":"Jason Emerson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45058702246069,"sku":"9780809330102","price":18.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_0a36e007-9e76-43be-a2b6-fb50cb5e7a6a.jpg?v=1738078138","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-madness-of-mary-lincoln-9780809330102","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}