When in his "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot" Pope referred to "this long
disease, my life," his statement was quite literally true, since Pope,
in addition to being a dwarf and a hunchback, suffered from many
diseases during his lifetime. With technical advice from several
physicians, the authors present the first medical case history of the
poet. Drawing heavily upon the Correspondence for information about
Pope's symptoms, they discuss the effect ill health had on his writings
and the prevalence of medical themes in his works. The authors also
explore Pope's interests in astronomy (second only to his obsession with
medicine), microscopy, geology, and physics and how they relate to his
writings.
Originally published in 1968.
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