History and Present State of Brislington House near Bristol

This is not a penny dreadful but a specialized medical institutional publication from 1836. The work presents a detailed account of the Brislington Lunatic Asylum near Bristol, established by Edward Long Fox in 1804 and now conducted by the Lodge proprietors. The text describes the physical layout and operational philosophy of what was among the first purpose-built private asylums in Britain. It details the innovative architectural design—five-hundred-foot frontage with iron fittings for fire safety, separate male and female divisions, segregated patient classes, and specialized facilities including baths, exercise grounds, and a chapel. The proprietors explain their treatment principles emphasizing moral and medical management over corporal punishment, advocating removal from family circumstances to break cycles of delusion, and promoting therapeutic peer influence among patients. The work combines architectural specification with medical justification for asylum-based treatment, addressing contemporary skepticism about institutional care for mental illness.