TY - BOOK AU - Storey,Tessa AU - Cavallo,Sandra AU - Cavallo,Sandra AU - Storey,Tessa TI - Conserving health in early modern culture: Bodies and environments in Italy and England T2 - Social Histories of Medicine SN - 9781526113474 PY - 2017/// PB - Manchester University Press KW - Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 KW - bicssc KW - History of medicine KW - Italy KW - Social & cultural history KW - comparative history KW - early modern england KW - early modern italy KW - environment KW - health KW - lifestyle KW - preventive medicine KW - vernacular medical texts N1 - Free-to-read N2 - "Conserving health in early modern culture explores the impact of ideas about healthy living in early modern England and Italy. The attention of medical historians has largely been focussed on the study of illness and medical treatment, yet prevention was one of the cornerstones of early modern medicine. According to Galenic-Hippocratic thought, the preservation of health depended on the careful management of the so-called six 'Non-Naturals': the air one breathed; food and drink; excretions; sleep; movement and rest; and emotions. Drawing on visual, material and textual sources, the contributors show the pervasiveness of the preventive paradigm in early modern culture and society. In particular it becomes apparent that concern for the non-naturals informed lay people's daily lives and routines as well as stimulating innovation in material culture and painting, and influencing discourses in fields as diverse as geology, natural philosophy and religion. At the same time the volume challenges the common assumption that health advice was a uniform and stable body of knowledge, showing instead that models of healthy living were tailored to different genders, age-groups and categories of patients; they also varied over time and depended on the geographical context. In particular, significant differences emerge between what was regarded as beneficial or harmful to health in England and Italy. As well as showing the value of a comparative perspective of study, this interdisciplinary volume will appeal to a wide readership, interested not just in health practices, but in print culture, histories of women, infancy, the environment and of art and material culture." UR - http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31268 ER -