THE PHILOSOPHY OF GENERATION: Its Abuses, with Their Causes, Prevention and Cure.
New York, NY: Fowlers and Wells, 1853. Early edition. Hardcover. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Very good condition. Item #019863
[3]-118 pages of text. Complete. Original blind-stamped cloth boards; rebacked , with new endpapers. The text is clean and unmarked. First published in 1849, this early edition is also uncommon. Early work on the subjects of extra-marital intercourse, sexual hygiene, and self-stimulation. Part I contains a general overview of sexual reproduction and the intellectual and moral consequences of proper child rearing. Part II, quoting from the title page, "Contains an account of the Abuses of the Generative Faculty, whether alone, or with the Opposite Sex; the Reasons why Fatal Consequences result; full Directions for suppressing Improper Desire, and effecting a Thorough Cure, by changing the Idiot into the Man." The author provides detailed anecdotal evidence of the dangers of self-stimulation, as perceived at that time, and devotes separate chapters to such topics as Symptoms of the Disease, Descriptions of Onanists, and Their History, Perversion of the Reproductive Instinct, Development of Disease Brought on by Onanism, and Means of Cure. This is likely the first reprinting of the 1849 first edition.
Price: $750.00