The art of living long; a new and improved English version of the treatise by the celebrated Venetian centenarian Lluigi Cornaro with essays by Joseph Addison, Lord Bacon, and Sir William Temple. by CORNARO, Luigi - 1914

Milwaukee: William F. Butler, 1914. Hardcover. 8vo. Pp. 213, [1]. With 4 portrait plates including the frontispiece of the author. Bound in brown publisher’s cloth. No dust jacket. The binding contains rubbing and wear to the extremities. The corner tips of the boards are bumped and worn. The head and tail caps show spots of fraying. Upper corner of the text block shows some bumping. Page 103 contains a 5 cm. tear which is neatly and professionally sealed. A tiny stain and two small tears (also sealed) are visible on the outer edge of the last 3 leaves. Luigi Cornaro (1464-1566) was a Venetian nobleman. After suffering a terrible sickness at the age of 35 Cornaro modified his living and eating habits. At the end of his life he wrote four short treatises on temperance and longevity called “Discorsi della vita sobria” which were first published in the latter 16th century. The work was translated and published in English several times. The present book is divided into two parts. The first contains an introduction with comments by Joseph Addison taken from the "Spectator", Oct. 13, 1711; a short account of the writings of Luigi Cornaro from the Italian of Hieronimo Gualdo, and an English translation of Cornaro’s treatises. The second part collects excerpts from Lord Bacon’s “History of Life and Death” and Sir William Temple’s “Health and Long Life.” Several appendices include various writings concerning Luigi Cornaro and the Cornaro family. The first William F. Butler edition appeared in 1903.