[Rarebooks] fs: The Poor Aren't Evil -1863

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

Agrestis. THOUGHTS ON POPULATION AND THE MEANS OF COMFORTABLE SUBSISTENCE; 
with Suggestions regarding an increased supply and lessened cost of food 
for childhood and the industrial classes. By Agrestis. London; Longman, 
Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: 1863.

A wide-ranging reformer's view of what 1860s England needed to do to 
improve the lives and productivity of the "laboring" classes, mostly 
through efforts to improve their food and drink. Much time is spent on milk 
and the problems with its production, adulteration and distribution and how 
they might be improved. The author points out that not only are milk and 
vegetables healthier to consume than meat, but that their production takes 
fewer resources. He promotes brown bread over white and the production of 
honey and cheese, and speaks at length about the use of sewage as a 
fertilizer.

The author also explores social problems, and deplores what he terms 
"suicidal" efforts by landlords and counties to remove farmers from their 
lands and send them abroad so their large families will not be "burdens on 
the parish rates". He makes a plea for the education of the lower classes 
and the removal of impediments to their marriage, and spends some time 
describing and praising Britain's overseas colonies in Australia. In an 
addenda he mentions the need for pure water and recommends a system of iron 
drinking fountains supplied by wells. OCLC locates 8 copies.

Hardcover. 5"x7.5", viii + 206 pages; errata slip; embossed green cloth 
with gilt titles, as issued; covers lightly rubbed, a bit of wear and soil 
here and there, but a very nice copy. [06062] $300.00

Illustration->
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