Previously unpublished photographs and extensive archives reveal an unexplored side of the great thinker and document the origins of his Madness and Civilization.

In 1954, Michel Foucault attended a party for patients at the Münsterlingen mental asylum. The bizarre ceremony, vestiges of a ritual inherited directly from the Middle Ages, left its mark on the young philosopher in the process of developing a new way of talking about madness and its history. Never-before-seen photos, hitherto unknown archives, and writings shed light on a moment too often neglected by Foucault specialists, characterized by Foucault's discovery of asylums and his passion for innovations in clinical psychology. This book describes an unexplored period, not covered in the Pléiade edition of his complete works, and prompting questions that upend our familiar perspectives on Michel Foucault.