Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Memoirs of Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay. Published 1852.

This is one of those books that you will read snippets aloud to your family. It’s full of bits about the manias that people have gotten into up until the 19th century. Tulips, alchemy, witchcraft, beards, cant phrases “Does your mother know you’re out?“, the Crusades… all these and more are represented in this two-volumes-in-one set. It is not by any means scholarly — it was then and is now rather “popular non-fiction.” Even though Mackay wasn’t always correct with his reporting, he was nearly always entertaining.¹

This is a project that I’ve been working on for a very long time, it was one of the first I signed up to post-process for DP, and over the three years it took me to do it, I learned so much and therefore had to change things so many times…

But it’s uploaded now, and has its own life. Be well, Delusions!

1. Except the Crusades chapter tends to drag on… but then again, so did the Crusades.[back]