The Medical Frame of Character and the Enforcement of Normative Health in Thomas Beddoes’ ‘Observations on the Character and Writings of John Brown, M.D.’

Coleridge derived most of his scrofulous rhetoric from the work of Thomas Beddoes, who played a prominent role in the intellectual world of England and Germany. Scottish theorist John Brown whose doctrine influenced not only Beddoes himself, but also Coleridge and Schelling. Brown based his claim to fame on the medical system contained within the Elementa Medicinae. Brown's medical system held considerable influence for two decades, because of its striking simplicity. Brown's system ranks diseases on the 'Table' according to how much the organism is excited. Beddoes posits a spatial model of health in which all elements are plainly visible to the vigilant physician. The education in identifying and naming body parts and sensations serves Beddoes' overarching aim of establishing ethical values among members of society. In 1792 Beddoes published the fictitious biography, The History of IsaacJenkins, and of the Sickness of Sarah his Wife and Their Three Children.