Melancholy and the idle lifestyle in the eighteenth century

This interdisciplinary thesis explores the connection between mental health and lifestyle in the eighteenth century. The thesis draws upon scholarly and medical writings on melancholy, from Robert Burton‘s Anatomy of Melancholy (1622) onwards, and consider these works alongside eighteenth-century literary representations and biographical testimonies from those suffering from melancholy. The thesis provides a new perspective and understanding of the terms in which depression and other associated nervous illnesses were medicalised in the eighteenth century. I argue against recent scholarly work which regards melancholy as a label interchangeable with nervous illnesses such as vapours, spleen and hysteria. I argue that in the eighteenth century melancholy was a clearly identified medical condition in its own right and that it was a depressive illness which can be closely related to today‘s depression. The thesis argues that there is a direct link between idleness and the melancholy state of mind and that a depressed state of mind was often the result of an idle lifestyle. Melancholy is also considered in relation to gender and the idle lifestyle that many females were forced to adopt. It then focuses upon three prominent literary figures: Samuel Johnson, William Shenstone and William Cowper, all of whom suffered from depression. The thesis considers Johnson‘s preoccupation with idleness as a symptom of his melancholy, a notion that has received little critical attention. Shenstone‘s experience is used to illustrate the depressing effect that a retired lifestyle could have on the individual. I argue that his melancholy was largely caused by the conflict created between his decision to live the idle lifestyle of a country gentleman and his desire to remain amongst society. Finally I re-evaluate the account of the mental turmoil expressed by Cowper in his spiritual autobiography Adelphi and provide evidence that suggests Cowper may have feigned the symptoms of religious melancholy in an attempt to resist the pressures placed upon him to follow a profession. Ultimately the thesis reveals that, in the eighteenth century, idleness was regarded as a major cause of, and symptom of, melancholy. Idleness was also seen as an obstruction to one of the most widely prescribed methods of cure for melancholy: occupation

18th-Century Blues: Exploring the Melancholy Mind

'Before Depression' is a three-year research project by the English departments of the Universities of Northumbria and Sunderland and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. This exhibition brings together a range of artists who treated 'the blues' in their work. They include the influential Albrecht Durer, William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds, George Romney, Joseph Wright, Thomas Rowlandson, William Blake, Maria Cosway, Thomas Jones, Jacob van Ruisdael, Caspar David Friedrich, Charles Le Brun, Johann Caspar Lavater, John Constable, John Martin and local artist Luke Clennell. Some were themselves depressive, some were interested in medical matters connected with the condition, some painted melancholy scenes, some even made fun of 'depression' for satirical purposes, and some painted friends and well-known figures who we know suffered from periodic low spirits. 18th-Century Blues offers a sometimes lively, sometimes sombre but, we hope, always thought-provoking insight into how people dealt with a common human experience two hundred years ago. Works are kindly loaned by The National Gallery, London; Tate; The National Portrait Gallery; The British Museum, London; The Wellcome Library, London; The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester; Derby Museums and Art Gallery; The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear Museums); The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University and Petworth House, The Egremont Collection (acquired in lieu of tax by HM Treasury in 1957 and subsequently transferred to The National Trust)

LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Observation campaign : strategies, implementation, and lessons learned

NASA's LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) mission was designed to explore the nature of previously detected enhanced levels of hydrogen near the lunar poles. The LCROSS mission impacted the spent upper stage of the launch vehicle into a permanently shadowed region of the lunar surface to create an ejecta plume. The resultant impact crater and plume were then observed by the LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft as well as a cadre of telescopes on the Earth and in space to determine the nature of the materials contained within the permanently shadowed region. The Shepherding Spacecraft then became a second impactor which was also observed by multiple assets. The LCROSS Observation Campaign was a key component of the LCROSS mission. The goal of the Observation Campaign was to realize the scientific benefits of extending the LCROSS observations to multiple ground and space-based assets. This paper describes the LCROSS Observation Campaign and provides an overview of the Campaign coordination and logistics as well as a summary of the observation techniques utilized at a multitude of observatories. Lessons learned from the LCROSS Observation Campaign are also discussed to assist with the planning of future unique observing events.48 page(s