John Arbuthnot

John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), British doctor and writer, who popularized the satirical caricature of the typical Englishman, John Bull. Arbuthnot trained as a doctor and became a highly respected member of the profession, writing a number of books on medicine including An Essay Concerning the Nature of Ailments (1731), which was the first to emphasize correct nutrition as an element in the treatment of illness. In 1705 he was appointed physician-in-ordinary to Queen Anne. Arbuthnot was also a man of literary gifts, a friend of Jonathan Swift, and a personality in the intellectual world of London, where he settled. The History of John Bull (1712) was a collection of five pamphlets aimed as a satirical attack on the Duke of Marlborough. Later Arbuthnot was one of the founders of the Scriblerus Club, along with Swift, John Gay, and Alexander Pope. He was the main author of Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus (1741), which first appeared in the works of Pope, and also the “addressee” of the latter's satirical poem, the Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot.