Centuries before TikTok, this 1579 bestseller gave readers their daily dose of ‘brain rot’

By James Fox, Research Associate in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Glasgow

First you are shown a new hack to keep wine from spoiling. Then a dog lovingly devoted to its owner. Immediately in tow there are methods to repair broken glass and remove acne, a tip for weight loss, a cake recipe and an astrological reading of your future. But this is not your TikTok or Instagram feed – it’s the contents of a book written nearly four-and-a-half centuries ago.

The English writer Thomas Lupton’s book A…

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