"Before Freud is an anthology of psychiatric case histories published between 1869 and 1894 by five leading medical practitioners : George Beard, Richard Krafft-Ebing, Arthur Schnitzler, Jean-Martin Charcot, and Pierre Janet. Most of the cases here are translated from German or French for the first time. The purpose of this collection is to make accessible to English speakers important primary documents crucial not only for the history of psychology but also for an understanding of the literature of the period."--BOOK JACKET.