John Arbuthnot

John Arbuthnot , 1667-1735, Scottish author and scientist, court physician (1705-14) to Queen Anne. He is best remembered for his five "John Bull" pamphlets (1712), political satires on the Whig war policy, which introduced the character John Bull, the typical Englishman. With his friends, Swift, Pope, and Gay, Arbuthnot was a member of the Scriblerus Club , organized to ridicule false tastes in learning, and was the principal author of the "Memoirs of … Martinus Scriblerus," first published in the quarto edition of Pope's works (1741). He was also the author of several progressive medical works. Greatly admired in his time, Arbuthnot was called an unusual genius by Samuel Johnson, and Pope addressed to him the famous "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot."

Bibliography: See edition of his works by G. A. Aitken (1892); study by L. M. Beattie (1935).

Arbuthnot, John (1667–1735), was MD of St Andrews and from 1705 physician to Queen Anne. In 1711 he formed a close friendship with Swift, and was acquainted with Pope and other literary men. His History of John Bull was included in Pope and Swift's Miscellanies of 1727. He was a member of the Scriblerus Club and principal author of the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus. He also wrote on mathematics and on medical matters; his An Essay Concerning the Nature of Ailments (1731) is a farsighted account of the importance of diet.