After they had dined, Mrs. Teachum told them she thought it proper that they should use some exercise in the cooler part of the day, lest, by sitting too much, they should injure their health. – Sarah Fielding (1710–1768), “The Governess, or The Little Female Academy,”

Throughout the illness the most obviously exciting cause of the attacks was posture, stopping over a writing-desk; and he ultimately had to do such work either kneeling or at a standing desk. – Lawson Tait, 1882

Reginald was nearly all day at his office, and half the night at his stand-up desk in his room. – Henry Kingsley, “Reginald Hetherege,” 1874

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live! – Henry David Thoreau, journal, 1851 August 19th