Dio Lewis' Nuggets. Volume I, Nos. 1 & 5. August & December, 1885.

The first and last issues of Dio Lewis’ Nuggets, the last serial published by the prolific and celebrated physical culture and women’s health advocate, Diocletian Lewis. The end matter in no. 5 suggests the publication planned to continue, but there are no records of any issues published in 1886; Lewis died in May that year.

Nuggets superceded Dio Lewis’s Monthly, which began in August 1883. Unlike the Monthly, which had full-length features contributed by various authors, Nuggets was very much what it said—a series of comparatively brief remarks on various topics, sometimes reprinted from Lewis’ other publications and occasionally updated. Printed in double columns, he notes in the first issue that the change responds to the public’s more rapid consumption of printed matter.

The content is largely reiterative of Lewis’ teachings about health with copious illustrated ads and the kinds of great gymnastic illustrations you’d expect from a pioneer of physical education. He is not beyond hyperbole, fear-mongering, and hypocrisy. He calls drooping shoulders “a serious evil,” and takes ad money from corset companies, despite ranking corsets no. 2 in his list of “How to Commit Suicide,” right after narrow shoes. He meets many expectations of the suspiciously prolific “eccentric homeopath” stereotype.

His opinions and characterizations are not beyond reproach, but his gestures at social awareness are notable. He addresses the “stupidity” of wealth hoarding, calling out Vanderbilt and Astor among others. He devotes the first 8 pages in the last issue to defending Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, noting that every “respectable” person he’d spoken with who had first-hand interactions with Chinese people had only positive experiences—but were still harboring false beliefs based on widespread anti-Chinese propaganda. He writes, “the treatment of the insane, even in our better asylums, is simply barbarous,” and that women are disproportionately institutionalized without solid medical cause. He calls forcing sixteen-year-old girls to marry “an outrage upon nature” and contextualizes advances in public health and sanitation that contribute to improved health outcomes.

Printed chartreuse-colored wraps, 8vo. Issue No. 1: 38, (10)pp. Very Good- with bumping and chip to bottom corner of the cover; rear cover with an approx. 1x1.5” loss and closed tear at the same area through the last three leaves (no loss to contents). Slight vertical crease throughout. Number 5: [135]-174pp, (10)pp. Note “5” stamped over misprint “4.” VG+ with small chip to the upper rear corner and minor soil to wraps.