THE ART OF LIVING LONG. A NEW AND IMPROVED ENGLISH VERSION OF THE TREATISE BY THE CELEBRATED VENETIAN CENTENARIAN LOUIS CORNARO WITH ESSAYS BY JOSEPH ADDISON, LORD BACON, AND SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE

Large 8vo. (24 cm.) [6]7-214p. Frontispiece black and white portrait of Cornaro plus black and white full-page portraits of Addison, Bacon and Temple. Cornaro coat of arms on obverse of title page. Brown cloth with letters in gilt on the front cover and the spine. Top edge gilt. Almost no wear to extremities, two very small worn spots on the front cover (from something sitting on it?), illustrations fine, cloth clean gilt bright, else very good to near fine with only pencil markings occasionally in the margins. No dust jacket. Cornaro was a Venetian nobleman who was born in 1464 and lived to the ripe age of 102, dying in 1566. Like the majority of young gallants of his day, he lived a reckless and dissipated life; the result was that he completely broke down at the age of forty, and was given up by his physicians to diet. Taking matters into his own hands, Cornaro decided to reform his life and see what the results would be. He simplified his diet and drastically cut down on the quantity of food he consumed to the barest minimum. Within a few days he began to notice the difference, and at the end of the year, found himself completely restored to health. Seeing this, he continued this abstemious style for the rest of his life. He limited himself to twelve ounces of solid food daily and fourteen ounces of wine. (At the time the wine was very light and usually consumed at meals like water.) Cornaro's book, La Vida Sobria, consists of four "discourses," the first being written at the age of 83, the second at 86, the third at 91, and the fourth at 95. Cornaro devoted much of his time and energy to spreading the knowledge of his dietetic reform.…