Long Livers

Long livers: a curious history of such persons of both sexes who have liv'd several ages, and grown young again: with the rare secret of rejuvenescency of Arnoldus de Villa Nova, and a great many ... rules to prolong life: as also how to prepare the universal medicine ....

By Eugenius Philalethes

with a reader's guide by Martin Faulks

In 1722, a mysterious book was published in London, England under the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes, a renowned alchemist who was thought to have been deceased for many years. The text itself claimed to hold the secret to extending life, or even ceasing the ageing process altogether. It contained various special health regimes and examples of how, in the past, these secret treatments, lifestyles or remedies had led to long, happy lives. These included specific diets, special baths, fasting practices, herbal poultices, methods of turning precious metals and stones into drinkable potions and even an alchemical recipe that could cure all illnesses! Perhaps most astonishingly, the reader was also given an in-depth explanation of why we age and what caused eternal youth in the Garden of Eden.