A 1720 sex manual reveals some bizarre beliefs about sex.
The book, titled Aristotle’s Masterpiece Completed In Two Parts, The First Containing the Secrets of Generation, was written at a time when Britain used to burn witches at the stake. The 300-year-old manual is laced with elements of witchcraft, religion and astrology, the Metro reported.
Men are encouraged to consume blackbirds, meat and sparrow before sex if they want to "make their seed abound", it states. Women are viewed as susceptible to sexual indulgence. After sex, the book recommends women to lie on their right side to conceive a boy and left for a girl. It also speaks of man being "the wonder of the world, to whom all things are subordinate" and his seed should be seen as a "divine gift".
Up until the 1960s the book was banned due to its raunchy and strange illustrations. Women were shown "generating with a dog" and "lying with beasts" unnaturally.
"There are several illustrations of beast-like creatures including a man sporting a bushy dog’s tail and a monster being born in Ravenna, Italy, in 1512," Jim Spencer, books and manuscripts valuer at Hanson’s Auctioneers, told the Metro.
"The book even claims parents’ imaginations produce a child’s features and includes an illustration of a maid all hairy and an infant that was born black by the imagination of the parents, " he further explained. "Instead, during sex woman were urged to 'earnestly look upon the man and fix her mind upon him'," Spencer revealed so that the child would look like the father.
The book also makes references to romance. "Without doubt, the uniting of hearts in holy wedlock is of all conditions the happiest, for then a man has a second self to whom he can unravel his thoughts as well as a sweet companion in his labour," it states.
The archaic book with Georgian England beliefs is set to go on auction on March 27 and is predicted to fetch £80 and £120. This could be a unique Valentine’s Day gift if you are looking to get your partner something really out there.
