Aristotle Sex Manual Tips on Baby-Making
Book specialist Cathy Marsden said that the rare 1760s copy of Aristotle Sex Manual will now go on auction this month in the UK. The long-banned manual covers topics such as learning about making love and babies.
”There’s nothing in it that would really be considered dirty in our society now. It’s funny more than anything,” Ms Marsden explained.
”There are various things which warn parents about what could happen to their children if they sinned whilst conceiving them, perhaps by having sex outside marriage. It would say that your baby would be born all hairy or it would suggest that Siamese twins were the result of the parents’ sins.
”There are also interesting bits about the 17th century notion that it was considered beneficial for a woman to enjoy sexual intercourse in order to conceive. It suggests that both men and women should enjoy sex.
”That’s interesting because much later on, when they realised that a woman didn’t have to climax in order to conceive, the idea of a woman enjoying sex was considered far less important.”
The edition being auctioned at Lyon & Turnbull is thought to have been published around 1766. It will go under the hammer in Edinburgh on Wednesday January 16.