author

John Smith

b. 1647

A little-known English writer from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, he was remembered as a self-taught "philomath" and as a voice in the religious controversies of his day.

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The virtues of common water : or, The advantages thereof, in preventing and curing many distempers : gathered from the writings of several eminent physicians, and also from more than forty years experience

The virtues of common water : or, The advantages thereof, in preventing and curing many distempers : gathered from the writings of several eminent physicians, and also from more than forty years experience

by John Smith

About the author

Born in 1647 or 1648, John Smith was an English craftsman and writer associated with St. Augustine's, London. Sources describe him as a "philomath," suggesting a broad, self-driven love of learning rather than a conventional scholarly career.

He is chiefly noted as a Unitarian writer during a period of intense religious argument in England. His name appears in connection with the "Socinian controversy" of the 1690s, when anti-Trinitarian thinkers faced strong pressure and public recantations.

Although he is not among the best-known authors of his era, the surviving record suggests a figure shaped by both intellectual curiosity and the risks of speaking openly in a contentious religious climate. He is usually dated as living from 1647 or 1648 to about 1727.