title: The maladies of James Boswell, advocate.
abstract: Literary criticism, like legal judgement, will ultimately rest upon the written word. However, since the context of that written word is conditioned by the author's physician and mental health - both of which can materially affect the content and style of the writing - these areas are worthy of serious enquiry. Where details of a great writer's health are unavailable - as with Shakespeare - speculative and often unsatisfactory conjectures have to account for variations in the quality and quantity of output. Where a disease process is known and independently attested, such as Milton's blindness, criticism of the works produced is materially enhanced. Whereas the volume of a writer's output wil be influenced by longevity and the physical ability to dictate or to lift a pen, the content and style will necessarily be influenced by his or her mental state, conditioning as it does the personal and societal environment of creativity.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Metabolic Bone Disease, Hull University.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Purdie
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gow
mesh_terms: D004194:Disease; D049671:History, 18th Century; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D006113:United Kingdom