The 6-volume facsimile collection charts the history and development of psychiatry. The volumes take an international perspective, including writings in German, French, Italian as well as UK/US materials. A collection of British documents (or documents in English) would not adequately represent the history of the field, since the contribution of Great Britain, and indeed of the English-speaking world to the development of Western psychiatry and psychopathology has been rather limited. Shorter pieces have been translated by the editor and any longer pieces are printed with a short synopsis in English alongside.