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Lot 157

ARISTOTLE'S MASTER-PIECE
Aristoteles Master-piece, or, The Secrets of Generation diplayed in all the parts thereof, 1684

Amended
24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £20,000 inc. premium

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ARISTOTLE'S MASTER-PIECE

Aristoteles Master-piece, or, The Secrets of Generation diplayed in all the parts thereof., Containing, 1. The Signes of Barrenness. 2. The Way of Getting a Boy or Girl... 21. Of ordering New-born Infants, and many other very useful particulars: to which is added a Word of Advice to both Sexes in the Act of Copulation: and the Pictures of several Monsterous Births drawn to the Life, FIRST EDITION, setting with line 11 of title ending 'reasons', woodcut frontispiece of a hairy woman and a black child born to white parents, 6 full-page woodcuts of monstrous births (including repeat of frontispiece) at end, with blank H12, loss to printed black border at fore-margin of frontispiece, small loss at lower fore-corner of title, A6 torn away loss of 5 letters, short tear to B1, small hole with loss of a couple of letters to E1 and E9 (a paper-flaw), one gathering working loose, some corners dog-eared, contemporary calf, worn [Wing gA3697fa], 12mo, J. How, and are to be sold next door to the Anchor Tavern in Sweethings-rents in Cornhil, 1684

Footnotes

SCARCE COMPLETE COPY OF "THE DIRTY BOOK OF THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD".

"Aristotle's Masterpiece was the most popular book about women's bodies, sex, pregnancy, and childbirth in Britain and America from its first appearance in 1684 up to at least the 1870s. More than 250 editions are known, but all are very rare... It was sold furtively by country peddlers and in general stores and taverns; regular booksellers seldom advertised it, though they usually had it under the counter" (The Library Company of Philadelphia, 'Treasures', online catalogue). The work "was still on sale, contents largely unaltered, in Soho sex shops in the 1930s" (Books and Babies, Cambridge Library, 2011) and James Joyce's protagonist Leopold Bloom peruses an edition of the book in Ulysses.

This is the earliest publication date for the Master-piece, ESTC listing 3 variant settings of 1684, all printed by J. How, with no priority having been established. ESTC records only the incomplete British Library copy of our setting, which has line 11 of title ending "both", line 18 of title ends "Geni-", and the first line of imprint ending "sold". A copy of the same edition was sold in our sale rooms for £18,000, 12 November 2014, lot 47.

Saleroom notices

"Geni-" in footnote should read "Ge-", as per ESTC R504793.

Additional information

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