Charcot in Morocco

Preface and Acknowledgments

Preface and Acknowledgments Charcot remains an enigmatic figure. This despite a large body of scientific work by him, amounting to some fourteen substantial volumes, and a much more voluminous literature about him. These provide the reader with a good understanding of the pioneer of neurology but are much less successful with respect to Charcot the man. The same can be said about the outpouring of contemporary tributes by devoted students following Charcot’s sudden death in 1893. Sigmund Freud and Pierre Janet, both on their way to becoming masters of psychology, each contributed insightful appreciations of their teacher, but neither captured his elusive personality. Others, who knew Charcot better, wrote longer eulogies with more personal details without achieving the “intimate ” portrait that they invoked. After all, these were eulogists, admirers, for the most part, of the deceased. Beyond the obvious issue of bias in the eyewitness sources lies a more fundamental deficiency—a paucity of the kinds of autobiographical sources upon which biographers depend. Charcot’s correspondence is scattered around the world, much of it undoubtedly lost, the rest unpublished or, at best, published in fragments. As I explain in my introduction, the personal day book he kept during his Moroccan voyage of 1887 offers the reader a rare glimpse of Charcot par lui-même. Here we find unselfconsciously on display Charcot’s inner monologue as the famous French physician experiences the “Orient.” This project owes its origins to the generosity of the late R. Allart-Charcot, the grandson by marriage of Jean-Martin Charcot. In 1986 Monsieur Allart-Charcot provided me with a photocopy of his grandfather-in-law’s century-old journal. He and his wife welcomed me repeatedly into their home in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a hospitality continued by their daughter and her husband, the x CHARCOT IN MOROCCO Vallin-Charcots, with whom I had the pleasure and privilege to reside for several days in December 1996. There I was able to immerse myself in family papers relating to the Moroccan voyage, including the original drawings by Charcot, which appear in the illustrations to this book. Along with many other scholars, I am grateful to these family descendants, whose keen appreciation of patrimoine has preserved and maintained what was originally the neurologist’s country retreat on a rez-de-chaussé housing a treasure of personal correspondence, albums, books, art, craft and woodwork, and sculpture. I thank Mme Véronique Leroux-Hugon, conservateur of the Bibliothèque Charcot at the Salpêtrière hospital. Her intimate knowledge of and unflagging dedication to this unique repository have been a precious resource during annual research visits beginning in the mid-1980s. Without her expert guidance and cataloguing skills, Charcot’s vast original nineteenth-century library and his boxes of manuscripts would present an unnavigable labyrinth to scholars. I especially thank two physicians, Michel Bonduelle and the late Georges Sée. Both men, anciens internes des hôpitaux de Paris from the early decades of the twentieth century when that title carried an elite cachet, kindly and painstakingly aided me in deciphering Charcot’s handwritten journal. Needless to say, all shortcomings are my own responsibility. Closer to home, my bilingual and technologically fluent administrative assistant, Chanel Ghazzawi, has patiently and with much appreciated good humor about French accent marks, helped with finishing touches to the transcription and translation of the manuscript. Last, but far from least, I thank my wife, Deborah Gorham, for her perceptive advice based on generous readings and re-readings. ...