Helen started, and said she feared she had been sitting too long idle. – Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849), Helen, 1834

Still, it is customary to keep pupils sitting too long at once. They ought to stand occasionally, or march around the room; and they should be required to exercise a few minutes in the open air, once an hour, at least. – American Annals of Education and Instruction, April 1832

Workers at home who have aching backs and but one writing desk, and that a low one, will find great relief from writing in a standing position (if a recess is out the question), if only for fifteen minutes. My standing desk is a broad mantel shelf. – B.G.A., “Helpful Hints and Suggestions,” in The Writer, August 1887

Desidiousness. Lat. sitting too much; slothfulness, idleness, carelessness. – A New Dictionary of the English Language by Charles Richardson, 1836