Books by John Coakley Lettsom

This treatise on the tea bush and the consumption of tea was published in 1772 by John Coakley Lettsom, physician and philanthropist. He describes the botany, processing and use of the plant; however, he concludes that it should be avoided, because its enervating effects lead to weakness and effeminacy.

Written by physician and philanthropist John Coakley Lettsom, and reissued in its 1779 third edition, this work provides the traveller with advice on collecting and preserving scientific specimens, and on pursuing intellectual investigations. It offers a fascinating insight into the approach and expectations of the educated traveller in the eighteenth century.