Peter,

       The following are among the classics on this topic.

Brown, E. (1985).  What shall we do with the Inebriate?  Asylum Treatment and
the Disease Concept of Alcoholism in the Late Nineteenth Century.  Journal of
the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 21:48-59.

Bynum, W. (1968).  Chronic Alcoholism in the First Half of the 19th Century.
Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 42:160-185.

Levine, H. (1978). The Discovery of Addiction:  Changing Conceptions of
Habitual Drunkenness in America.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 39(2):143-174.

MacLeod, R. (1967). The Edge of Hope:  Social Policy and Chronic Alcoholism
1870-1900.  Journal of History of Medicine, 23:215-245.

Marconi, J. (1959).  The Concept of Alcoholism.  Quarterly Journal of Studies
on Alcohol  20(2):216-235.

       There is also an annotated chronology of the disease concept of
addictiuon that is posted at www.bhrm.org (under "Papers and
Publications--Addiction") that you may find helpful.

Bill White