Josiah Reddie Martin Mallett (18 February 1864 – 7 September 1938), known as Reddie Mallett, was an English freethinker, naturopath, poet and writer.
Biography
Mallett was born on 18 February 1864 in London.[1] He was educated at Mill Hill Grammar School and as a young man took interest in literature and poetry. He authored books and pamphlets on natural health that were published by Watts & Co.[2] His most popular book Nature's Way: A Means of Health Without Medicine sold well in the United Kingdom. By 1926 it was in its 18th edition and had sold 185,000 copies.[3] It also sold well in Australia and was reprinted as How to Get Well: According to Nature's Way.[4] A revised edition was edited by George Ryley Scott in 1948.[5]
Mallett gave special importance to diet for attaining health without medicine.[6] He promoted natural remedies and the consumption of fruit and vegetable juices. He opposed the use of drugs and had no faith in physicians and surgeons.[7] His 1926 Book of Health promoted a diet of fruit juice and to cure all ailments by lemon juice and olive oil. Mallett stated that lemon juice is a marvellous disinfectant that is unrecognized by medical science and can cure many diseases including cancer.[7] The book was criticized in 1931 as statements in the book contravened the Venereal Diseases Act of 1917.[8] The British Social Hygiene Council and the Ministry for Health were concerned about its harmful advice regarding self-treatment of syphilis. The book was withdrawn by the publisher.[8] This was the only book Mallett authored that was withdrawn by Watts & Co. He continued to author many other books for them on naturopathy that were published in the 1930s.
In 1935, Mallett stated that he could "live quite well" on a diet of fruit juices and he was walking over a hundred miles each month.[9]
Mallett died at Dunsford on 7 September 1938. His estate valued at £1,933 was granted to his widow Mrs. Clara Mallett.[10]
^Cooke, Bill. (2004). The Gathering of Infidels: A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association. Prometheus Books. pp. 284-286. ISBN9781591021964
^Unprecedented Success of a Wonderful Health Book. Weekly Dispatch (October 17, 1926). p. 10
^Martyr, Philippa. (2002). Paradise of Quacks: An Alternative History of Medicine in Australia. Macleay Press. p. 229. ISBN9781876492076
^Stark, James F. (2020). The Cult of Youth: Anti-Ageing in Modern Britain. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN978-1108484152
^ ab"Reviewed Works: How To Conquer Consumption by David Masters; The Book Of Health by Reddie Mallett; Cancer In Native Races by Frederick L. Hoffman; San Francisco Cancer Survey by Frederick L. Hoffman". The British Medical Journal. 1 (3457): 669–670.
