Aristotle’s Masterpiece

Description

First published in 1684, this book is a sex manual with chapters intended to help midwives in their work and was written by an anonymous author who claimed to be Aristotle – hence the name by which the author has been referred to ever since.

The book became popular again in the 19th century, though some scholars claim that it was banned in Britain until 1960. When writing the book, the author tapped into the successful trend of publishing manuals for midwives. The first writing about the topic was entitled Directory for Midwives and was published in 1651. In the following few decades, dozens of books came out about the topic of sexuality and midwifery, Aristotle’s Masterpiece being among the most successful ones. In terms of inspiration, the book borrowed a lot from Secret Miracles of Nature by Levinus Lemnius and from Complete Midwives Practice Enlarged written by an anonymous author. The Masterpiece was circulated in three different versions, each of them reprinted many times through the 17th and 18th century.

The version that is used for reprints today is the third variant. The text of this version is divided into two parts: the first section deals with issues related to anatomy, intercourse and married life, while the second part is about pregnancy and provides help for midwives. Besides providing a fairly accurate description of human anatomy, including a discussion of the male and female reproductive organs, of reproductive age and lots of useful advice about fertilization, pregnancy, infertility and virginity and the book also promotes Christian values by drawing the reader’s attention to the importance of monogamy and by warning against adultery and polygamy.
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