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Lyon & Turnbull book specialist Cathy Marsden looks at a 1760 manual for sex and pregnancy called “Aristotle’s Compleat Masterpiece” Lyon & Turnball
Auction
Banned ‘Aristotle’ sex manual sells for over £500
The 18th century book had nothing to do with the ancient Greek philosopher of its title – but quite a lot to do with human reproduction.
AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY sex manual that was banned in Britain until the 1960s has sold for £550 at auction.
The book – entitled Aristotle’s Compleat Master-piece – has little to do with the ancient Greek philosopher, however, drawing instead on various authors’ writings and a good helping of old wives’ tales.
Cathy Marsden, a rare book specialist at Scottish auction house Lyon & Turnbull, told TheJournal.ie earlier this month that book was an early manual for sex and pregnancy, thought to have first appeared around 1680.
Experts are not certain on the reasons for it being banned mid-18th century. “But it probably has something to do with the images,” said Marsden. “We wouldn’t find any of them particularly offensive or shocking. There are some drawings of babies in the womb or deformed children. As it was a ‘vernacular book’, it may have been considered lewd.”
The work, complied by an anonymous author, was considered highly taboo and distasteful and printers avoided including their names in the imprint possibly for fear of prosecution, according to the auctioneers.
The book exceeded its estimate of between £300 – £400.
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