CARLI Digitized Book of the Month - February 2016

Wakefield's Guide to Health

Cyrenius Wakefield, a doctor of PR more than actual training, was a noted acquaintance of President Lincoln and created the Dr. C Wakefield & Co. Company to make various goods designed to promote good health . This "educational" pamphlet serves more as advertisement for the various salves and tonics made by the Wakefield company, including their well-known Blackberry Balsam. While I can't personally speak to the quality of these remedies, other testimonials in this document swear to its healin power, and it's quite possible that its properties against dysentery and other digestive issues would've been useful from The Oregon Trail to the big city streets of Chicago. 

Written by Ian Collins, Digital Service Librarian, University of Illinois at Chicago

This volume was contributed by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. You can find this volume and others from CARLI participant libraries in the Internet Archive.