12mo. viii, [1], 10-134, [2], 4pp. With a final errata leaf and two leaves of publisher's advertisements. Original publisher's salmon cloth boards, printed paper lettering-piece. Extremities marked, sunned, and lightly rubbed, paper shelf-labels to spine. Booklabel of the Town Library, Longmeadow, Massachusetts to FEP, spotted.

A rare survival of the first edition of a lecture delivered at the Springfield Lyceum, Massachusetts by physician Lemuel Whittlesey Belden (1801-1839) on the extraordinary case of Jane C. Rider, dubbed the Springfield Somnambulist. The seventeen-year-old Rider, a native of Vermont, began, in 1834, quite suddenly and without prior history, to experience paroxysms. Whilst sleeping she would often rise, dress herself, and proceed to lay the kitchen table and prepare a full meal for her family. On other occasions she would remain confined to her bed and talk at length, in some instances reciting poetry. Invariably, upon waking, she would have no memory of the night's occurrences. Her condition worsened over a period of months, to the point where she might suddenly experience an attack at any time of the day, her actions becoming increasingly complex. She was moved to the hospital at Worcester where numerous experiments were conducted, though seemingly to no avail. A British edition, published by Simpkin and Marshall, appeared in the same year as this sole American edition.