History of Absinthe

la-buveuse-d_absinthe-20kb2-237×220.jpgA lazy post for my second contribution to AHP (but I thought it was too interesting to resist) :

Mind Hacks posted yesterday about the history of absinthe and provided a few online resources:

  1. The New York Times (November 12, 2007)
  2. Wikipedia
  3. Article on Absinthism from the journal Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy

Some additional resources that may be of interest to those wanting to delve further into the topic:

  • The Virtual Absinthe Museum – a great site that includes information and images of:
  • La Fée Vert – supposedly the oldest absinthe website that includes:
    • A history of wormwood (dating back to ancient Egypt)
    • Historical absinthe recipes
  • For those who find themselves in Auvers-sur-Oise (FR) there’s the: Musée de l’Absinthe
  • A few print resources include:
    • Adams, J. (2004). Hideous absinthe: A history of the devil in a bottle. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
    • Lanier, D. (1995). Absinthe, the cocaine of the nineteenth century: A history of the hallucinogenic drug and its effect on artists and writers in Europe and the United States. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
    • Baker, P. (1961). The book of absinthe: A cultural history. NY: Grove Press.
    • Conrad, B. (1988). Absinthe: History in a bottle. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

About Jennifer Bazar

Jennifer Bazar is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto and Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. Her research focuses on the history of psychiatric institutionalization.