Illustrations of Madness: James Tilly Matthews and the Air Loom
Adam Green - November 12, 2014 in Art & Illustrations, conspiracy theories, Culture & History, Featured Articles, influencing machine, james tilly matthews, napoleonic wars, paranoid schizophrenia, Science & Medicine
Mike Jay recounts the tragic story of James Tilly Matthews, a former peace activist of the Napoleonic Wars who was confined to London's notorious Bedlam asylum in 1797 for believing that his mind was under the control of the "Air Loom" - a terrifying machine whose mesmeric rays and mysterious gases were brainwashing politicians and plunging Europe into revolution, terror, and war.