Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1022

HUGH SMITH (1736?-1789) Letters to married women. Printed for the author 1774 3rd ed. xvii, 256 pp. 16.5 cm.

First published in 1772, this popular work passed through six English editions and was translated into French and Dutch. In spite of its title, the work is on child rearing rather than marital hygiene. Smith was quite adamant in all his views, especially those concerning breast feeding. His florid prose, while in the style of the times, becomes at times quite melodramatic: "Believe it not when it is insinuated that your bosoms are less charming for having a dear little cherub at your breast." Smith was the first English writer to recommend breast milk as sole nourishment for the first six or seven months of life. He also helped draw attention to the high infant mortality rate by including the bill of mortality for London in the introduction to these Letters.

Cited references: Waller 9028 (1792 ed.)