Elwin Hofman - Trials of the self: Murder, mayhem and the remaking of the mind, 1750–1830

Trials of the self

STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY

This series aims to promote challenging and innovative research in all areas of early modern European history. For over twenty years it has published monographs and edited volumes that make an original contribution to our understanding of the period and is particularly interested in works that engage with current historiographical debates and methodologies, including race, emotions, materiality, gender, communication, medicine and disability, as well as interdisciplinary studies. Europe is taken in a broad sense and the series welcomes projects on continental (Western, Central and Eastern Europe), Anglo-European and trans-cultural, global histories that explore the worlds relationship with Europe during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

series editors

Sara Barker, Joseph Bergin, Laura Kounine and William G. Naphy

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Full details of the series are available at www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

Trials of the self

Murder, mayhem and the remaking of the mind, 17501830

Elwin Hofman

MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Copyright Elwin Hofman 2021

The right of Elwin Hofman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Published by Manchester University Press

Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA

www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 5261 5314 2 hardback

First published 2021

The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Cover image: Abraham Solomon, Waiting for the Verdict, 1859. Gift of Barbara and Norman S. Namerow. Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

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Ive really been trying to self-improve lately. [] Im focusing on trying to get back to the truest version of myself.

How do you know that getting back to your truest version of yourself is gonna be an improvement?

Dialogue between Geoffrey and Josh in Please Like Me (2016)

It is only appropriate for a book in which confessions figure so prominently to begin with a confession of my own. So I confess: acknowledgements are my favourite part of many books. They are at once their most intimate and their most formalistic part. People speak personal words and thank their closest friends; pretending to be naively sincere and unaware of the fact that everyone writes almost the exact same things. Acknowledgements, it has been observed, are displays of the authors scholarly networks, competences and identities. They are, in effect, cleverly disguised CVs, covering everything from mentors to marital status.

As is common in acknowledgements, I have to start with the work of others. This book would not have existed were it not for many generous scholars who read portions (or all) of it and were willing to discuss my research. Tom Verschaffel has always been my first resort for all my questions. His insights are always fundamental, his demeanour calm and convivial, his comments inspiring and encouraging. Dana Rabin, Geertje Mak, Henk de Smaele, Johan Verberckmoes and Kaat Wils have been exceptionally helpful by thoroughly reading an earlier version of this text and providing essential comments. I have further benefited from feedback and encouragement from the other scholars at the Cultural History research group in Leuven, particularly Jo Tollebeek, Pieter Huistra, Nelleke Teughels, Andreas Stynen, Liesbet Nys, Timo Van Havere, Raf De Bont, Joris Vandendriessche, Jolien Gijbels, Veronique Deblon, Tinne Claes, Kate Kangaslahti, Marjoleine Delva and Matthias Meirlaen. Their intellectual and moral support has been invaluable. Elsewhere, Sara Cosemans, Brecht Deseure, Josephine Hoegaerts, Theo van der Meer, Magaly Rodriguez Garcia, Xavier Rousseaux, Pieter Spierenburg, Dorothe Sturkenboom and Tine Van Osselaer all commented on parts of my research, from early proposals to chapter drafts. I am immensely grateful for their time and their insights. The editors and reviewers for Manchester University Press made valuable suggestions when this book was reaching its final stages.