Psychiatry and Catholicism
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1952. First edition. Large octavo (9 1/4 inches tall), original blue cloth, spine titled in green and white with star at the base, original dust jacket. Owner ink-stamp and signature to blank flyleaf, very minor wear to book and unclipped dust jacket. A near-fine copy. Item #1315
"AN APPROVED CATHOLIC POSITION ON THE VALUE OF PSYCHIATRY IN MODERN LIFE"
Early printing of this manual of "how psychiatric principles and practice can be reconciled with the basic tenets of the Catholic faith."
The authors, Father VanderVeldt and Dr. Odenwald of this "penetratingly and straightforward account of a currently controversial subject" were both on faculty at the Catholic University of America. VanderVeldt focuses on the theological and philosophical aspects with Odenwald handling the practical medical issues. Each of the 24 chapters concludes with brief Notes and References. The text is supplemented with A Survey of the data on mental health in the United States and describing the twin objectives of the book: 1. A description of the main forms of mental disorder for priests and other nonpsychiatric counselors, 2. The Catholic principles that should govern the approach to the problem of mental disease. With a brief Foreword by Patrick A. O'Boyle, the Archbishop of Washington (and Chancellor of the Catholic University), which also appears on the back panel of the dust jacket: "Since truth is one, the valid teachings of psychiatry cannot fail to harmonize with Christian ethics." Third printing, printed in the same year as the first. Approbations. George F. McLean, Annotated Bibliography of Philosophy in Catholic Thought, 216.
Price: $150.00