Description:

SAGE SEXUAL HANDBOOK FOR THE CIVIL WAR SOLDIER
Civil War soldier's self-help, sexual curiosity book Physiological Mysteries and Revelations in Love, Courtship and Marriage; an Infallible Guide-book for Married and Single Persons, in Matters of the Utmost Importance to the Human Race, by Eugene Becklard, M.D., (Holland & Glover: New York), 1844, 256pp. 16mo., signed twice inside, in pencil, by Sergeant Major Henry M. Vanschaick 9th New Jersey Vols. A wealth of misinformation is contained in this small volume, especially in Chapter VIII entitled: "Solitary Practices, with their best mode of treatment", which warns about "self-abuse": "...many physicians of high authority have maintained, that two-thirds of the diseases of which the human race is liable, have had their origins in solitary practices; or…masturbation…in males, and…in females…lunacy...arrest the growth of stature...artificial ripeness...pimples...causes convulsions, emaciation, and pains in the membrane of the brain...". Appropriately illustrated with steel plate engraving at the beginning of each chapter. Much more intriguing content includes, but is not limited to: "Must a man be born of a woman?…Terrors of Absolute Continence…[and] At what age marriage should be consummated [with the insightful advise being]…very early in life-varying from ten to sixteen years…". Worn covers with loose binding, else very good.

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May 9, 2012 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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