I shall be compelled to buy a standing-desk, which will cost me from two to three dollars, as the older students advise me to have one as necessary to my health. – James Stokes Dickerson, letter to brother, 1842 October 13th

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

Sich krank essen, trinken, sitzen: to become sick by eating, drinking, sitting too much. – A Complete Practical Grammar of the German Language (c.1805–1828) by Charl

[T]hey marched and counter-marched, clapped their hands, stamped hard upon the floor, and performed various evolutions for the purpose of circulating the blood, which by sitting too long is apt to stagnate, and render them, particularly in this climate, dull and sleepy. – Joseph Holt Ingraham, South-West, 1835 [Originally published anonymously, “By a