{"id":7692,"date":"2019-01-16T07:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T13:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/?p=7692"},"modified":"2019-01-25T08:35:37","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T14:35:37","slug":"new-years-resolutions-reconsidered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/2019\/01\/16\/new-years-resolutions-reconsidered\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year’s Resolutions, Reconsidered"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cuneiform<\/a>
Cuneiform tablet from the Charles L. Souvay Cuneiform Tablets Collection<\/a>, Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1900 BC). Image courtesy of the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The practice of setting (and possibly breaking) New Year\u2019s resolutions dates back several centuries.\u00a0 Merriam-Webster<\/a> cites journal entries from the 17th<\/sup> century and an 1813 newspaper article to date the emergence of this annual tradition.\u00a0 Wikipedia<\/a> suggests it\u2019s far older, dating back to the Babylonian practice of making promises to their gods to return borrowed goods and repay debts.\u00a0 While Special Collections and Archives does hold cuneiform tablets<\/a> dating back to the Early Old Babylonian period (ca. 2000-1900 BC), they won\u2019t be much help for us in this debate since they are in Sumerian.<\/p>\n

What we do know anecdotally and via statistics abundant on the internet, is that contemporary resolutions are most often made in support of exercise and healthy eating, saving money, learning a new sport or hobby, and spending more time with family and friends.<\/p>\n

If any of your New Year\u2019s resolutions line up with exercise, sports, or hobbies, you might be interested in some of these rare book titles to help you achieve your goals.<\/p>\n

Ladies, you could consult Donald Walker\u2019s Exercises for Ladies; Calculated to Preserve and Improve Beauty, and to Prevent and Correct Personal Defects, Inseparable from Constrained or Careless Habits<\/a> (1837). On second thought, skip it, because Mr. Walker opines women should avoid running and leaping, \u201cowing to the excessive shocks which both of these exercises communicate, neither of which is congenial to women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carriage<\/a>
The exercise of driving horses, from\u00a0British Manly Exercises containing Rowing and Sailing, Riding & Driving, etc. etc<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gentlemen, you\u2019re in luck that Walker also wrote British Manly Exercises containing Rowing and Sailing, Riding & Driving, etc. etc<\/a>. (1837). Walker proudly proclaims in the introduction, \u201cthroughout the work, useful exercises alone are given, and mere pastimes are excluded\u2026in an age when, even with all the improvement of our methods, the acquirements necessary to the highest degree of bodily and mental accomplishment, are sufficiently numerous to occupy the period of life which is devoted to them.\u201d So, slackers need not bother with this book.<\/p>\n

\"Calisthenics\"<\/a>
Exercises for children in\u00a0Calisthenic Songs.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Calisthenic Songs<\/a> (1869) was created as an aid to motivate schoolchildren in the completion of their daily exercises. The author claims \u201cThus a few minutes of useful play will redeem for earnest work hours which otherwise would have been lost in drowsy inactivity.\u201d Maybe \u201cThe Wasp and the Bee\u201d or \u201cClap, Clap, Hurrah\u201d could be your new go-to workout tracks.<\/p>\n

\"Velocipede\"<\/a>
The exercise of driving the “new wheel-horse” from\u00a0Velocipedes, Bicycles and Tricycles: How to Make and How to Use Them.\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cyclists might want to check out Velocipedes, Bicycles and Tricycles: How to Make and How to Use Them<\/a> (1869). Manly men who learned how to \u201cdrive\u201d (horses and chariots) from Donald Walker might try this \u201ctoy of the hour,\u201d also called the \u201cnew wheel-horse of the period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ping<\/a>
Demonstration of a “very difficult stoke” from\u00a0Ping-Pong: The Game and How to Play It<\/a>\u00a0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those willing to waste their life on mere pastimes, let me suggest ping-pong and roller skating. With Roller Skating Made Easy<\/a> (1884), you can learn \u201cthis most graceful accomplishment quickly and easily.\u201d Turns out roller skating isn\u2019t <\/em>just for fun. \u201cAll skating, whether by plain movements or the most difficult figures, is governed by certain scientific principles and rules, which must be learned and practiced\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Surely, we can unwind with a game of ping-pong!\u00a0 Author Arnold Parker, the Queen\u2019s Hall Champion of ping-pong, admits that the game has been \u201cjeered at and called ridiculous\u201d in his Ping-Pong: The Game and How to Play It<\/a> (1902).\u00a0 But, perhaps you\u2019ve never considered that \u201ca great deal of exercise is obtainable from the pursuit of this game; and many a wet afternoon, be it summer or winter, which would otherwise be passed most probably in laziness with a novel, can now be spent enjoyably and healthily by playing a few games of Ping-Pong.\u201d<\/p>\n

If these titles don\u2019t succeed in motivating you, you\u2019re in good company.\u00a0 It\u2019s said that 90% of New Year\u2019s resolutions fail, with 80% doomed by February.<\/p>\n

Might I suggest picking up a good book, and passing your time in \u201claziness\u201d instead?\u00a0 You can browse the Unwind the Mind<\/a> and Graphic Novel collections, or feel free to come by Special Collections and Archives, Richardson Library room 314, to request these six books above or other books from our varied collections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To learn more about DePaul Special Collections and Archives<\/a>, visit us in room 314 of the John T. Richardson Library or contact us at libguides.depaul.edu\/askspca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The practice of setting (and possibly breaking) New Year\u2019s resolutions dates back several centuries.\u00a0 Merriam-Webster cites journal entries from the 17th century and an 1813 newspaper article to date the emergence of this annual tradition.\u00a0 Wikipedia suggests it\u2019s far older, dating back to the Babylonian practice of making promises to their gods to return borrowed <\/p>\n

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