Dr. Rory du Plessis, Senior Lecturer in Visual Studies at the School of the Arts, has published a book titled Pathways of patients at the Grahamstown Lunatic Asylum, 1890-1907. Developed from his doctoral thesis, the book is an in-depth, comprehensive yet sensitive and illuminating exploration into the life paths of various patients at the Grahamstown Lunatic Asylum at the turn-of-the-century:

Pathways of patients explores the casebooks of the Grahamstown Lunatic Asylum during the superintendence of Dr Thomas Duncan Greenlees, from 1890 to 1907. The hallmark of Pathways of patients is an examination of the asylum’s casebooks to bring into view the humanity of the patients, their distinct personal experiences, and their individuality. The book is underpinned by an allied goal to retrieve the casebook narratives of the patients’ life stories, their acts of agency, and their pathways to and from the asylum, with a view to understanding and portraying the context of patient experiences at the time. 

The book is open access and can be downloaded via the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) website. The hardcopy will be available at a later date.