Podcast Summary: Stuff You Missed in History Class

Episode: John Evelyn's 'Fumifugium'
Hosts: Tracy V. Wilson & Holly Frey
Date: February 2, 2026

Overview

This episode examines Fumifugium, a 1661 treatise on air pollution by John Evelyn, best known as a diarist and an early environmental thinker. The hosts explore Evelyn’s life, the environmental context of 17th-century London, the origins and contents of Fumifugium, its recommendations, and its historical impact. They also reflect on how discussions about air pollution and environmental health have persisted from Evelyn's day to the present.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Discovery and Relevance of Fumifugium

• Tracy shares how Evelyn’s treatise on air pollution was discovered while researching the history of rickets.
• She reflects on the contemporary relevance after recent changes at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding health costs and air pollution regulations.

  "Wow, John Evelyn wrote a treatise on air pollution? I had no idea. Fascinating...people have been talking about the harms of air pollution for hundreds of years." (03:29)

2. John Evelyn’s Biography

(04:29–13:42)

Early Life & Education

• Born October 31, 1620, in Surrey, into a wealthy family due to a gunpowder patent.
• Raised partly by maternal grandparents, began keeping a diary at age 11.
• Attended Balliol College, Oxford, and the Middle Temple for legal/social connections; did not complete a degree.

  "He started keeping a diary at the age of 11. He may have started this diary by writing his notes in an almanac." (05:17)

Turbulent Times

• Experienced family loss and financial changes as a second son.
• Traveled Europe during the English Civil War, choosing not to fight to avoid risking confiscation of his family’s estate.
• Married Mary Browne, daughter of the English ambassador to Paris, who was much younger but seen as his intellectual peer.

  "Although Mary was English, she had spent almost all of her life in France... described as Evelyn's intellectual equal and as being very kind and sweet." (07:37)

Career & Contributions

• Upon return to England: life of moderate means, personal losses, and focus on gardening and writing.
• Wrote on diverse topics: science (including an English translation of Lucretius), etching, numismatics, botany, conservation, and even salads.
• Founding member of the Royal Society (1661).

  "Evelyn wrote about 30 books over the course of his life, and several of them were focused on conservation and the natural world." (10:52)

• Served on various commissions (fire rebuilding, plantations, Navy, prisoners of war), and became friends with Samuel Pepys.
• Died in 1706; his diary was published posthumously, becoming an important historical resource.

3. Historical Context: Air Quality and Fuel in London

(17:24–22:28)

Prevalence of Coal

• London used wood, charcoal, and eventually increasingly sulfurous bituminous coal ("sea coal") from the 12th century onward.
• Deforestation and import troubles made coal more common.
• Coal burning supplemented by breweries, metalsmiths, etc., as forests declined and winters worsened during the Little Ice Age.
• Pollution increased as chimneys remained short and urban population rose.
• Efforts at regulation focused on discomfort to monarchs, not public health. E.g., Queen Elizabeth I's and James I's targeted bans.

  "For the most part, this was not about the idea of public health or coal smoke being bad for people in general. It was about the health of the monarch and their family..." (21:13)

Pollution’s Effects

• By mid-1600s, London was extremely polluted, paving the way for Evelyn's Fumifugium.

4. John Evelyn’s Fumifugium: Origins, Intent, and Content

(22:28–36:56)

Why Fumifugium Was Written

• Evelyn sought royal favor and solutions for London’s air pollution at the beginning of Charles II’s reign.
• Hoped to secure an appointment or gain favor for his wife at court.

  "Evelyn hoped to both impress the King and encourage him to do something about the problem of coal smoke in London." (23:36)

Possible Political Allegory

• Mark Jenner argues Fumifugium also functioned as a metaphor: purging city smoke as purging political corruption.

  "Evelyn might also have meant it at least somewhat symbolically, with the removal of all the coal pollution in London serving as a stand in for the removal of corruption and unwanted politics..." (24:07)

Structure and Language

Title and Dedication

• Title: Fumifugium, or The Inconvenience of the Air and Smoke of London Dissipated...
• Lucretius epigraph: “how easily the heavy smoke of coal seeps into the brain.”

  Notable quote to the king:
  "That all the rooms, galleries and places about it were filled and infested with it, and that to such a degree as men could hardly discern one another for the cloud, and none could support without manifest inconveniency." (25:27)

Condemnation of London Smoke

• Highly descriptive, alarming language about the ugliness and health dangers of coal smoke.

  "The city of London resembles the face rather of Mount Etna, the court of Vulcan Stromboli, or the suburbs of hell, than an assembly of rational creatures and the imperial seat of our incomparable monarch." (28:00, Holly quoting Evelyn)

• Describes damage to health, property, and food production; cites contemporary physicians blaming coal smoke for lung diseases like “consumption” (tuberculosis).

  "It is this horrid smoke which... corrupts the waters so, as the very rain and refreshing dews which fall... precipitate this impure vapor, which, with its black and tenacious quality spots and contaminates whatsoever is exposed to it." (28:35)

5. Proposed Remedies in Fumifugium

(29:42–35:13)

Recommendations

• Switch to Wood: Advocates for widespread planting and harvesting of trees near the city to create a sustainable wood supply for cleaner-burning fuel.
  • Later expanded in Evelyn’s Silva (1664), an early work on forestry and conservation.
• Relocate Polluting Trades: Move major polluting industries like brewers and soap boilers 5–6 miles from the city (territory now within modern London).

  "He proposes that they be moved five or six miles away below the Thames, so the smoke will not be an issue for the residents of London." (31:00)

• Create Greenbelts: Transform low grounds into fields and gardens filled with fragrant plants (sweetbriar, jasmine, lavender, rosemary, hops, etc.) to perfume the air and counteract bad odors.

  "He thought that if fields like this were planted all around London, then the wind would perpetually be bringing good smells into the city." (33:55)

• Ban Urban Burials: Move graveyards out of central London to improve air further (later wrote about garden cemeteries for green space).
• Move Odorous Businesses: Relocate butchers, fishmongers, and tallow candlemakers further out (but not as far as major polluters).

Visionary but Limited

• Did not consider the impact on residents of areas targeted for industrial relocation.
• Presciently warned about fire risk from concentrated industries in the city—a concern realized in the Great Fire of London five years later.

6. The Fate and Legacy of Fumifugium

(35:13–36:56)

• Initially received some consideration from Charles II but none of Evelyn’s proposals were enacted.

• Evelyn’s government commissions proved difficult, costly, and draining.

• Fumifugium was reprinted several times over following centuries—during new pollution crises or in debates over regulation (1772, 1930, 1961, etc.), cementing its status as an early environmental classic.

  "Fumafugiam has been reprinted at other points in the years since then... in 1930, during debates over a potential new power station..." (36:24)

• Air quality in London improved only centuries later, after major pollution events and significant regulatory change.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the scale of London’s pollution:

  “Where it once enters, there can nothing remain long in its native splendor and perfection.” (25:58, Evelyn to King Charles II)

• On city life:

  “The city of London resembles the face rather of Mount Etna, the court of Vulcan Stromboli, or the suburbs of hell...” (28:00, Holly as Evelyn)

• On health impacts:

  “Endangering as well the health of your subjects as it sullies the glory of this, your imperial seat.” (26:32, Evelyn’s warning)

• On missed opportunity:

  “For a couple of days he discussed it at various meals and events, but none of Evelyn’s proposals were ultimately adopted...” (35:13, Holly)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:29 – Tracy relates Evelyn’s work to modern EPA policy
• 04:29–13:42 – Biography and works of John Evelyn
• 17:24 – Setting the stage: history of fuel and air quality in London
• 22:28 – The origins and objectives of Fumifugium
• 24:07 – Interpretation as political allegory
• 25:27–29:42 – Reading and analysis of memorable passage from Fumifugium
• 29:42–35:13 – Discussion of Evelyn’s proposed remedies
• 36:56 – Reprintings and legacy of Fumifugium

Language & Tone

The episode maintains a conversational, enthusiastic, and historically curious tone, with Tracy and Holly weaving direct quotations, witty asides, and scholarly context.

Final Thoughts

The episode underscores how air pollution and the politics of public health have deep historical roots. John Evelyn emerges as a visionary and a forerunner of modern environmentalism, even if his more fragrant, leafy vision for London remained unfulfilled in his lifetime. The treatise Fumifugium stands as a testament to centuries-long debates over how to keep cities clean, beautiful, and healthy—debates which continue to this day.