Martin Luther Holbrook | |
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Born | February 3, 1831 |
Died | August 12, 1902 (aged 71) |
Occupation(s) | Physician, writer |
Martin Luther Holbrook (February 3, 1831 - August 12, 1902) was an American physician and vegetarianism activist associated with the natural hygiene and physical culture movements.
Holbrook was born in Mantua Township, Portage County, Ohio. [1] Holbrook graduated from Ohio Agricultural College and edited the Ohio Farmer (1859-1861). [2] During 1861–1863, Holbrook worked with Dio Lewis in Boston to promote physical culture and hygiene. [1] He graduated from Lewis's Normal School of Physical Culture. [2] He moved to New York City and obtained his medical degree from the Hygeio-Therapeutic College in 1864. [3]
Holbrook was coproprietor of the New Hygienic Institute at Laight Street in New York City, the property was previously Russell Trall's water-cure institution. [4] [5] A Turkish bath was located at the institute. [1] [4] [6] He was a founder of Miller, Wood and Holbrook firm and Miller, Wood & Co publishers of medical books. He later published under his own name, M. L. Holbrook and was an important publisher of medical and hygienic literature up until the 1890s. [2] [7] The printing press was located at Laight Street in New York City. [7] It shared the same address as Russell Trall's New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College. [7]
Holbrook was a vegetarian and promoted abstinence from alcohol, coffee, meat, tea, and tobacco. [2] [8] He translated the German raw food book Fruit and Bread by Gustav Schlickeysen. The book promoted a fruitarian diet of uncooked fruits, grains and nuts. [8]
Holbrook was an advocate of chastity. His 1894 book on the subject recommended a physical culture regimen to increase the body's strength and diminish "morbid craving for unnatural and unreasonable indulgence of the passional nature." [2] He was a prominent eugenicist and authored the 1897 book Stirpiculture, later re-printed as Homo-Culture.
Holbrook's Eating for Strength, published in 1888 contains several hundred vegetarian recipes. [9]
From 1866, Holbrook was a long-term editor for Russell Trall's The Herald of Health (it became the Journal of Hygiene in 1893). [2] [7] He edited the journal until 1898. [1] It was a very popular journal. [10]
In 1898, the journal was renamed Omega and was edited by Holbrook and Charles Alfred Tyrrell. [11] It merged with Physical Culture. [5]
Holbrook's publications can be found in the New York Public Library. [12]