Published by Condit & Nelson: Des Moines, Iowa 1886
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Man the Masterpiece, or, Plain Truths Plainly Told About Boyhood, Youth and Manhood by Dr. J. H. Kellogg, published by Condit & Nelson in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1886, is a moral and physiological guide to male health and character written during America's Victorian reform era. Best known as a physician and health reformer associated with the Battle Creek Sanitarium, Kellogg combines medical instruction with strong ethical and religious advice, addressing topics such as physical development, hygiene, self-control, and the moral dangers of vice and indulgence. Intended for young men and parents alike, the work seeks to elevate personal conduct through temperance, cleanliness, and discipline, aligning with Kellogg's broader advocacy of purity, vegetarianism, and the mind-body connection.
Written in a direct and earnest style, the book reflects 19th-century ideals of masculinity shaped by Protestant ethics and emerging medical science. It provides a fascinating window into the moral reform movements of the period and the ways in which medicine, religion, and social responsibility were intertwined in American thought. This 1886 edition is a scarce and culturally significant example of Kellogg's educational writings and will appeal to collectors of medical history, Victorian morality literature, and early American health reform works.
John Harvey Kellogg (February 26, 1852 - December 14, 1943) was an American businessman, inventor, physician, and advocate of the Progressive Movement. He was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, founded by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It combined aspects of a European spa, a hydrotherapy institution, a hospital and high-class hotel. Kellogg treated the rich and famous, as well as the poor who could not afford other hospitals. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, his "development of dry breakfast cereals was largely responsible for the creation of the flaked-cereal industry".
An early proponent of the germ theory of disease, Kellogg was well ahead of his time in relating intestinal flora and the presence of bacteria in the intestines to health and disease. The sanitarium approached treatment in a holistic manner, actively promoting vegetarianism, nutrition, the use of yogurt enemas to clear "intestinal flora", exercise, sun-bathing, and hydrotherapy, as well as the abstention from smoking tobacco, drinking alcoholic beverages, and sexual activity. Kellogg dedicated the last 30 years of his life to promoting eugenics and segregation. Kellogg was a major leader in progressive health reform, particularly in the second phase of the clean living movement. He wrote extensively on science and health. His approach to "biologic living" combined scientific knowledge with Adventist beliefs, promoting health reform, and temperance. Many of the vegetarian foods that Kellogg developed and offered his patients were publicly marketed: Kellogg's brother, Will Keith Kellogg, is best known today for the invention of the breakfast cereal corn flakes."
