The Fountain of Youth, or Curing by Water, Benedict Lust, 1923

Lust, Benedict. New York: Mcfadden Publications, INC. 1923
English, Very Good first edition softcover 8vo, 7 1/2"X5", [Vii]142 pp.

Very Good first edition 8vo softcover with brown wraps, black titling to cover. Edgewear to wraps, otherwise tight bound, pages pristine and intact. 142 pp., text in English, includes black-and-white illustrations demonstrating water therapy practices.  Dr. Benedict Lust's The Fountain of Youth, or Curing by Water: How You May Quickly Over-come Acute and Chronic Illness by the Use of the Biological Blood-Washing Bath, is an artifact of the "fountain of youth" health craze that swept the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century. Benedict Lust (1872 -1945) was a German-born physician, considered to be the father of naturopathy in the U.S. who drew sharp criticism within the medical establishment for his experimental methods such as water therapy and his opposition to germ theory. This book is entertaining evidence of the pseudo-science that accompanied early health & medicine practices in the 1920s, but also a demonstration of the history of early alternative medicine. Rare in the trade.