Nicolai's phantoms

In 1791, Berlin publisher Friedrich Nicolai saw crowds of lifelike phantoms in his rooms for weeks; they faded after doctors applied leeches.

1791 CE · 52.52, 13.40 · status: explained

The account

He described the case in a 1799 lecture to the Berlin Academy as a natural illness, a key early text on hallucinations.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Friedrich Nicolai