NEWTON, John Frank.

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The Return to Nature, Or, A Defence of the Vegetable Regimen; First edition of this pioneering work of vegetarianism, in which the author advocates for the medical and intellectual benefits of a meat-free diet. It was a great influence on fellow vegetarian Percy Bysshe Shelley as well as on Mary Shelley's depiction of the Creature as a herbivore in Frankenstein. This is a particularly well-preserved copy in the original boards.Newton (1767-1837) promoted a diet of fruit, vegetables, raisins, bread, eggs, milk, and potatoes, and he drank only distilled water because of his belief that the Thames was contaminated with animal fat. Unlike his mentor William Lambe (1765-1847), Newton was not a vegan. He inspired several significant figures to adopt a vegetarian diet, including the physician John Snow (1813-1858) and Percy Shelley, whose Vindication of Natural Diet (1813) echoed Newton's ideas. "It is from his meeting with John Newton in November 1812 that Shelley's proselytising vegetarianism dates. From Newton's book he drew many of his arguments" (Crook and Guiton, p. 77). The two men differed in the fact that Newton was mainly concerned with the scientific benefits rather than the moral implications of vegetarianism. "Though not a doctor, Newton regarded The Return to Nature principally as a work of medicine; he had himself found relief from chronic asthma through vegetarianism and was anxious to impart to others the knowledge of its benefits in a number of diseases" (ibid.). H

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