Primary Texts

Deleuze, J.P.F. Histoire critique du magnétisme animal. [Critical History of Animal Magnetism]. Vol. 1. Paris: MAME, 1813. 2 vols.

Charma, Antoine. Du Sommeil. [On Sleep] Paris: Hachette, 1851.

Delboeuf, Joseph. Le Sommeil et les rêves, considérés principalement dans leurs rapports avec les théories de la certitude et de la mémoire. [Sleep and Dreams, Considered Principally in their Relationships with the Theories of Certainty and Memory]. Paris: Alcan, 1885.

Chabert, Philibert. Du Sommeil. [On Sleep]. 2nd ed. Paris: Egron, 1800.

Cérise, Laurent. Preface. Du Sommeil, des rêves et du somnambulisme dans l’état de santé et de maladie. [On Sleep, Dreams and Somnambulism in the States of Health and Illness]. By M. M. A. Macario. Lyon: Perisse, 1857. Germany: Kraus, 1978. viii-xxx.

Brierre de Boismont, A. Des Hallucinations ou Histoire raisonnée des apparitions, des visions, des songes, de l’extase, des rêves, du magnétisme et du somnambulisme. [On Hallucinations, or a Reasoned History of Apparitions, Visions, Dreams, Ecstasy, Magnetism and Somnambulism]. Paris: Baillière, 1845.

Bertrand, Alexandre. Traité du somnambulisme. [Treatise on Somnambulism]. Paris: Dentu, 1823.

Bertrand, Alexandre.  “Du Sommeil, considéré particulièrement sous le point de vue psychologique.” [“Sleep Considered Particularly from a Psychological Point of View”]. Le Globe. 9 June 1827: 150-53.

Bertrand, Alexandre. Du Magnétisme animal en France. [On Animal Magnetism in France]. Paris: J. B. Baillière, 1826.

READ SELECTIONS OF THE TEXT ONLINE 

Artemidorus. The Interpretation of Dream: Oneirocritica. Trans. Robert J. White. California: Original Books, 1975.

Online Versions:

On Sleep and Sleeplessness 

On Dreams 

 
Print Version:

Aristotle. Aristotle on Sleep and Dreams. Ed. David Gallop. Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 1996.

Our Dreaming Mind, by Robert Van De Castle

A comprehensive history of dreaming and dream theories by the former director of the Sleep and Dream Laboratory at the University of Virginia.

Van De Castle, Robert. Our Dreaming Mind. Ballantine, 1995.

The Enchanted World of Sleep, by Peretz Lavie

This is an interesting and readable introduction to contemporary sleep science written by Israeli sleep researcher Lavie. He also includes interesting notes on the history of the study of sleep, and refers to experiments that he has personally conducted.

READ THE BOOK ONLINE

Lavie, Peretz. The Enchanted World of Sleep. Trans. Anthony Berris. Yale UP, 1998.

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold

While this is a practical, “how to” volume on the subject, LaBerge and Rheingold have established a scientific framework for the study of lucid dreaming.

LaBerge, Stephen and Howard Rheingold. Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. Ballantine Books, 1997.

The Paradox of Sleep: The Story of Dreaming, by Michel Jouvet

Jouvet is one of the pioneers of sleep and dream research in the mid-20th century. He coined the term “paradoxical sleep” for REM or dream sleep, as during this stage the brain exhibits behavior that is unlike both deep sleep and wakefulness.

Jouvet, Michel. The Paradox of Sleep: the Story of Dreaming. MIT Press, 1999.

Dreaming as Delirium: How the Brain Goes Out of its Mind, by J. Allan Hobson

Hobson argues that dreams are not unlike the hallucinations that schizophrenics experience; if we see meanings and patterns in our dreams, it is because the brain likes to seek out coherence. Hobson is a leading psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Harvard University.

Dreaming as Delirium: How the Brain Goes Out of its Mind. MIT Press, 1999.

See also Hobson’s earlier work: The Dreaming Brain: How the Brain Creates Both the Sense and the Nonsense of Dreams

Dreaming: An Introduction to the Science of Sleep, by J. Allan Hobson

Hobson is the leading proponent of the theory that dreams originate from random neural activity—the brain’s exercise—while we sleep. Whatever meaning we glean from a dream comes from the higher brain’s tendency to synthesize and create sense from apparent senselessness.

Hobson, J. Allan. Dreaming: An Introduction to the Science of Sleep. Oxford UP, 2003.

Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain : Perspectives on Lucid Dreaming, edited by Jayne Gackenbach and Stephen LaBerge.

This is a comprehensive collection of essays on the leading research on lucid dreaming, including theoretical, clinical, historical, cultural, and individual perspectives.

Gackenbach, Jayne and Stephen LaBerge. Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain : Perspectives on Lucid Dreaming. New York : Plenum Press, 1988.

Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain

The Promise of Sleep, by William Dement and Christopher Vaughan

Dement is one of the leading sleep experts in the world. Along with Nathanial Kleitman and Gene Aserinsky, he discovered REM sleep in the mid 1950s, and has since gone on to found the Stanford Sleep Center, the world’s first sleep disorder clinic. This book is an easy introduction to the science of sleep, full of anecdotes about Dement’s experiences as a sleep science pioneer. However, the lack of source documentation, bibliography, and even an index, make it a frustrating tool at times.

Dement, William and Christopher Vaughan. The Promise of Sleep. New York: Delacourte, 1999.

Sleep: the Complete Guide to Sleep Disorders and Better Night’s Sleep, by J. Paul Caldwell

An expert in the study of aviation fatigue, Caldwell has also penned a very readable overview of sleep science and sleep disorders for the lay-person.

Caldwell, J. Paul. Sleep: the Complete Guide to Sleep Disorders and Better Night’s Sleep. Rev. Ed. Buffalo NY: Firefly, 2003.