[Almanac]: [Health]:

$500 · Offered by William Reese Company

THE HEALTH ALMANAC, FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1844....DEVOTED TO THE LAW WHICH REGULATES THE ANIMAL, ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR THE SPIRIT OF MAN. BY A VEGETABLE ... A scarce American almanac promoting diet reform, particularly for women. The first fourteen pages are devoted to the year 1844. Each month includes a calendar with solar and lunar information, alongside "various phenomenon" including important dates and anniversaries, and maxims. The remainder of the volume has a variety of selections covering topics including health and diet, phrenology, household economy, and marriage. Of particular interest is the section headed "Flesh Eaters" beginning on page [17], a lengthy exploration of the interplay between diet and disease, culminating in the guidance that "Fruit is the best adapted for the food of man; next comes the seeds, such as wheat, corn, next comes vegetables as they are termed, then follows the lean flesh of the clean animals, such as the deer, sheep, &c." "The Effects of Tight Dress" (pp. [37-41]) enumerates and illustrates the detrimental effects of constrictive women's fashion, as they were understood at the time: "It is necessary, to give health to the lungs, that the body should be well nourished, in order to form good blood; it is also necessary we should breathe pure air, and likewise that the lungs should not be encroached on by tight dress, in any form." Contrasting illustrations show a figure "as she came from the hand of God," juxtaposed against "a defor

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