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The human mind’s susceptibility to suggestion and the trance-like state of hypnosis are the subjects of a new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries.
Power of Suggestion: The Hypnotism Library of Dr. Albert Moll, curated by History of Medicine Collections curator Chris Ryland and archivist Jim Thweatt, is on view at Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives through mid-February 2026. The items in the exhibit are drawn from a multilingual collection offering a unique perspective on the history of hypnotism as well as its relationship to animal magnetism, psychotherapy, mesmerism, sleepwalking, criminology, and even yoga.
Vanderbilt’s medical library acquired an 840-item collection of books, pamphlets and newspaper clippings on hypnotism in 1935 from the personal library of Moll (1862–1939), a Jewish-German psychiatrist. A rival to Sigmund Freud and Magnus Hirschfeld, Moll was one of the leading psychotherapists of his day and used hypnotic suggestion to treat patients suffering from symptoms of trauma, alcoholism and chronic pain.
Moll’s hypnotism library, now part of Vanderbilt’s History of Medicine Collections, went unused for decades and the university even attempted to sell it, finding no takers. It was not until 2024 that the collection was fully cataloged by metadata librarians Zora Breeding and Alicia Zalusky. While other items from Moll’s library survive elsewhere, the vast majority of his books were likely destroyed under the Nazi regime.
Power of Suggestion: The Hypnotism Library of Dr. Albert Moll is on display through Feb. 17, 2026, at Special Collections and University Archives, 1101 19th Ave. S. Viewing hours are Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.