Beautiful yet haunting photographs of abandoned asylums in America – once glorious historical buildings now ravaged by nature and time are the subject of this fascinating, coffee table photo book.

Abandoned Asylums takes readers on an unrestricted visual journey inside America's abandoned state hospitals, asylums, and psychiatric facilities, the institutions where countless stories and personal dramas played out behind locked doors and out of public sight.

The images captured by photographer Matt Van der Velde are powerful, haunting and emotive. A sad and tragic reality that these once glorious historical institutions now sit vacant and forgotten as their futures are uncertain and threatened with the wrecking ball.

Explore a private mental hospital that treated Marilyn Monroe and other celebrities seeking safe haven. Or look inside the seclusion cells at an asylum that once incarcerated the now-infamous Charles Manson. Or see the autopsy theater at a Government Hospital for the Insane that was the scene for some of America's very first lobotomy procedures.

With a foreward by renowned expert Carla Yanni examining their evolution and subsequent fall from grace, accompanying writings by Matt Van der Velde detailing their respective histories, Abandoned Asylums will shine some light on the glorious, and sometimes infamous institutions that have for so long been shrouded in darkness.

美丽迷人的美国废弃精神病院照片——曾经辉煌的历史建筑如今饱受自然和时间的蹂躏。

本书带领读者一览美国废弃的州立医院、收容所和精神病院，在这些机构中，无数的故事和个人戏剧在紧锁的门后和公众视线之外上演。

摄影师马特·范德维德（Matt Van der Velde）拍摄的图像非常有力、迷人和感性。然而现实是悲惨的，这些曾经辉煌的历史机构如今已空置并被遗忘，它们未来渺茫，面临着拆迁的危险。

探寻曾治疗玛丽莲·梦露和其他寻求安全庇护的名人的私人精神病院。看看曾经关押过声名狼藉的查尔斯·曼森（Charles Manson）的精神病院禁闭室内部。再看看政府精神病院的解剖室，这里曾是美国最早进行脑白质切除手术的地方。

知名专家卡拉·燕妮（Carla Yanni）在前言中探讨了这些机构的演变和随后的堕落，马特·范德维德（Matt Van der Velde）的文章则详细介绍了它们各自的历史，本书将照亮那些长期以来被笼罩在黑暗中的光荣的、有时臭名昭著的机构。