Edutainment

As you breathlessly curse the magazine that advised a five-mile run to tone those thighs, spare a thought for your sisters of the 17th century.
For their lifestyle and beauty bible would have recommended something much smellier.

An edition of a rare 1694 manual, The Ladies' Dictionary: being a General Entertainment for the Fair Sex, is going up for auction next month. It reveals the bizarre, and often hilarious, home remedies and etiquette tips offered to women during the reign of William and Mary.

Described as the Cosmopolitan magazine of its day, its pages include pointers on dating, make-up, diet and expanding the mind. A large portion of the text, however, is devoted to that age-old concern - wobbly bits....

In terms of first-date etiquette the manual is clear: make him wait. Under the heading: "Is it proper for a Woman to yield at the first address, though to a man she love?" the book points out that French and Irish soldiers haven't managed to kill off all the good men - so don't take the first offer you get.

"Besides," it adds, "you will get better Conditions if the Enemy does not know how weak you are within."

"Forgive, Ladies, all the Warlike Gibberish..."

The advice on wearing make-up is equally firm. "A painted face is enough to destroy the Reputation of her that uses it."

Adultery too, is likely to bring on the sinner a "World of Miseries".

And, in a section that some modern celebrities could take to heart, the manual cautions readers against starving themselves. "Bodies that are very Lean and Scragged, we must own, cannot be very Comely: It is a contrary Extream to Corpulency and the Parties Face always seems to carry Lent in it."