University of Virginia Press

© 2020 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

First published 2020

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Keiser, Jess, author.

Title: Nervous fictions : literary form and the enlightenment origins of neuroscience / Jess Keiser.

Description: Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020024974 (print) | LCCN 2020024975 (ebook) | ISBN 9780813944777 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780813944784 (paperback) | ISBN 9780813944791 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Literature and science—England—History—17th century. | Literature and science—England—History—18th century. | Mind and body in literature. | Science in literature. | Metaphor. | Neurosciences—England—History.

Classification: LCC PR438.S37 K45 2020 (print) | LCC PR438.S37 (ebook) | DDC 820.9/3561—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024974

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024975

Cover art: “A surgery where all fantasy and follies are purged and good qualities are prescribed,” M. Greuter, line drawing, ca. 1600 (Wellcome Collection); antique map detail, seventeenth century (picturepast/123RF)