"A Guide to Health, Beauty, Riches, and Honour" by Francis Grose (1783)

A facsimile of Francis Grose's "A Guide to Health, Beauty, Riches, and Honour" (1783). Accessed in Tisch Library Special Collections. A collection of British newspaper advertisements from 1730-1750, with an eight-page preface by Grose. The text was rebound in the late 19th Century for Edward and Hugh Doggett to include a copy of George Paul's "Thoughts on the Alarming Process of the Gaol Fever." The text is written in English, but contains several untranslated entries in French. Each entry has a capitalized number and title stating what it pertains to, as well as an italicized publication name and date.

The purpose of the text is to satirize the charlatanism present in 18th Century British advertisements. Grose presents a collection of British newspaper advertisements pertaining to categories from medical treatments to offers of marriage, in order to display the outlandish effects of the society’s increasing focus on consumption. By collecting antiquarian ephemera and employing a satirical tone in his writing, Grose’s guide reflects on eighteenth-century British society for what it was, criticizing the preoccupation with wealth and status during a time of supposed prosperity.