Library Company of Philadelphia
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, and the Library Company’s 55 editions amount to perhaps the largest collection in America.
Aristotle’s Masterpiece was not written by Aristotle the ancient Greek philosopher; it was assembled from a number of popular medical works by an unknown writer. It is a bizarre assortment of superstition, folklore, and sex facts and fancies, all mixed in with the sort of common-sense medical advice that had been passed down by midwives for centuries. The text changed very little over the years, but it was often rearranged, as historian Mary Fissell has noted, like a reshuffled deck of cards.
We love the ribbon-embossed cloth binding and simple gold-blocked title on our copy of this 1830 edition of Aristotle’s Masterpiece. #PublishersBindingThursday
Read more about Aristotle’s Masterpiece here.