The Art of Preserving Health

T H E

ART OF PRESERVING

H E A L T H

BY

JOHN ARMSTRONG, M. D.

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED

A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE POEM

By J. AIKIN, M.D.

_______________

L O N D O N

PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, JUN AND W. DAVIES

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1796

DESCRIPTION

(iv) + 152 + (iv)

Book measures 165mm x 105mm approximately.

Bound in full more recent speckled tan calf. Five gilt-ruled raised bands to spine with twin black title and author labels. Marbled end-papers and paste-downs and all page edges marbled. Includes four full-page engravings throughout.

CONDITION

The binding is holding extremely firm indeed. There are no discernible marks or wear to the binding whatsoever.

Internally there are new end-papers in fine condition. The original pages are generally clean throughout, with a few very occasional spots and a little light browning.

Overall, a lovely tight little volume in excellent condition.

INTERESTING

Dr. John Armstrong (1709–1779) was a physician, poet, and satirist. He was born at Castleton Manse, Scotland. John studied medicine and gained his MD at the renowned University of Edinburgh (being the first to graduate 'with distinction' in 1732) before establishing a successful medical practice in London. Castleton has now largely disappeared although in the remains of the churchyard lies an obelisk to the memory of John Armstrong.

Armstrong's poem The Art of Preserving Health was among the most popular works of eighteenth-century literature and medicine. The poem is divided into four parts on 1. Air, 2. Diet, 3. Exercise and 4. The Passions. It was among the first to popularize Scottish medical ideas concerning emotional and anatomical sensibility to British readers, doing so through the then-fashionable georgic style. Within three years of its publication in 1744, it was in its third edition, and by 1795 it commanded fourteen editions printed in London, Edinburgh, Dublin. Maintaining its place among more famous works of the Enlightenment, this poem was read well into the nineteenth century, with translations in French, German, and Italian. It remained a tribute to sustained interest in eighteenth-century sensibility, long after its medical advice had become obsolete and the nervous complaints it depicted became unfashionable.