1848 - A Treatise on Chastity Belts [VERY RARE]
A deeply unsettling and profoundly disturbing medical treatise by John Moodie, venturing into the darkest corners of historical attempts to control human sexuality. This work is not merely a medical text; it is a chilling testament to the extremes of societal anxiety surrounding chastity and morality. Moodie's theories and observations, while presented with a veneer of scientific objectivity, reveal a disturbing preoccupation with the suppression of natural desires. The inclusion of four meticulously detailed plates depicting a physical apparatus designed for the enforcement of chastity offers a stark and unsettling visual representation of the author's invasive and draconian methods. A strange, disturbing, and utterly singular document.
John Moodie. A Medical Treatise; with principles and observations, to preserve chastity and morality; with four plates of an apparatus for the same purpose. First and only edition, presentation copy with "From the Author" penned to the front endpaper. A very rare book; RBH records only a single auction appearance – that being for this same copy, which sold in 2006. Institutional holdings are also rather sparse. Edinburgh: Stevenson and Co. 8vo. iv, 92 pp. illustrated with 4 in-text figures in red. Period 1/4 morocco over cloth. Spine chipped and worn, title and final leaf toned, stab-hole near gutter throughout, clean overall with some light foxing.
A deeply unsettling and profoundly disturbing medical treatise by John Moodie, venturing into the darkest corners of historical attempts to control human sexuality. This work is not merely a medical text; it is a chilling testament to the extremes of societal anxiety surrounding chastity and morality. Moodie's theories and observations, while presented with a veneer of scientific objectivity, reveal a disturbing preoccupation with the suppression of natural desires. The inclusion of four meticulously detailed plates depicting a physical apparatus designed for the enforcement of chastity offers a stark and unsettling visual representation of the author's invasive and draconian methods. A strange, disturbing, and utterly singular document.
John Moodie. A Medical Treatise; with principles and observations, to preserve chastity and morality; with four plates of an apparatus for the same purpose. First and only edition, presentation copy with "From the Author" penned to the front endpaper. A very rare book; RBH records only a single auction appearance – that being for this same copy, which sold in 2006. Institutional holdings are also rather sparse. Edinburgh: Stevenson and Co. 8vo. iv, 92 pp. illustrated with 4 in-text figures in red. Period 1/4 morocco over cloth. Spine chipped and worn, title and final leaf toned, stab-hole near gutter throughout, clean overall with some light foxing.
A deeply unsettling and profoundly disturbing medical treatise by John Moodie, venturing into the darkest corners of historical attempts to control human sexuality. This work is not merely a medical text; it is a chilling testament to the extremes of societal anxiety surrounding chastity and morality. Moodie's theories and observations, while presented with a veneer of scientific objectivity, reveal a disturbing preoccupation with the suppression of natural desires. The inclusion of four meticulously detailed plates depicting a physical apparatus designed for the enforcement of chastity offers a stark and unsettling visual representation of the author's invasive and draconian methods. A strange, disturbing, and utterly singular document.
John Moodie. A Medical Treatise; with principles and observations, to preserve chastity and morality; with four plates of an apparatus for the same purpose. First and only edition, presentation copy with "From the Author" penned to the front endpaper. A very rare book; RBH records only a single auction appearance – that being for this same copy, which sold in 2006. Institutional holdings are also rather sparse. Edinburgh: Stevenson and Co. 8vo. iv, 92 pp. illustrated with 4 in-text figures in red. Period 1/4 morocco over cloth. Spine chipped and worn, title and final leaf toned, stab-hole near gutter throughout, clean overall with some light foxing.