Kleine–Levin syndrome (KLS) is a rare disease characterised by recurrent episodes of hypersomnia and, to varying degrees, behavioural/cognitive disturbances, compulsive eating and hypersexuality. Kleine, a neurologist, was the “first” to describe a series of nine cases of recurrent hypersomnia in a 1925 publication¹; one case involved a young woman. In 1936, Levin, a psychiatrist, added a series of five other cases, focusing on the relationship between hypersomnia and disordered eating.² In 1962, Critchley, who gave the disorder its name, added to the literature 11 cases he had personally observed as a physician for the British Royal Navy.³ In a recent review of the literature, Arnulf et al compiled 186 cases dating from 1962 to 2004.⁴

Figure 1

 Title page.

Huang and Arnulf⁵ report on a description of KLS written by A Brière de Boismont in 1862. In this article, I present a case history of episodic hypersomnia associated with disordered eating and neurological disturbances. The report was written by a French physician, Edmé Chauvot de Beauchêne (1749–1824), and was published in 1786.⁶

Figure 2

 First page of the text.

Beauchêne completed his studies at the renowned medical school in Montpellier, its reputation dating back to the middle ages. His professors included F Boissier de Sauvages, author of an esteemed nosology. Beauchêne embarked on his career towards the end of the enlightenment and, like his contemporaries P Pomme⁷ and J Raulin,⁸ he became interested in “vapours”. In his book entitled De l’influence des affections de l’âme dans les maladies nerveuses des femmes avec le traitement qui convient à ces maladies (1781) (How affections of the soul …