Many of the psychology books in the collection were influenced by the thinking of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. While Mr. Gleason’s books on psychology cover a range of topics, some popular ones include books on criminal or abnormal psychology, and books that seek to explain the psychological need to believe in life after death. In one, Nandor Fodor attempts to unravel the psychological cause for believing in mediums.
Walter Heape
New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1913 [First edition.]
Summary: Heape takes on first wave feminism in this book, framing it as sex warfare. Simplified, he seems to argue the changes women are asking for in male-female relationships are unrealistic. As we all know, he was proven wrong. Heape was a scientist who studied reproductive biology and is credited with scientific discoveries that led to modern in vitro fertilization.
Notes: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70715FA385B13738DDDA00994D8415B838DF1D3
R.E.L. Masters and Eduard Lea
New York: The Julian Press Inc., 1963 [First edition.]
Summary: Masters and Lea outline different types of sex crimes, supported with historical examples, including Jack the Ripper and Elizabeth Bathory. Though somewhat outdated, the book is an interesting if disturbing look at notorious crimes and why they were committed.
An Outline of Abnormal Psychology
Gardner Murphy
New York: Modern Library, 1929 [First edition.]
Summary: Murphy’s book is informative, but dense. It may not be a popular choice for light reading, but it is a detailed resource for anyone interested in how mental illness was perceived before the field of Psychology reached its modern standard.
Stuart Palmer
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1960 [First edition.]
Summary: Palmer profiles several murderers in an attempt to explain why people kill other people. The text incorporates psychoanalysis with interviews with the murderers, paying special attention to their childhoods and upbringings.
Edited by Norman L. Farberow
New York: Atherton Press, 1963 [First edition.]
Summary: A series of essays by multiple authors about taboo topics including death, suicide, and homosexuality. Most of the essays devote more time to examining research approaches to these topics than to the topics themselves, and the difficulty of gathering an appropriate and unbiased sample group when so many people are unwilling to be interviewed about these subjects.
