ONAN ESCHEWED - Rick Grunder

is not entirely explained, but it apparently leaves the man sterile, the woman
more elastic in the right places, and both parties feeling younger. "The French,"
we read, ". . . would not for worlds abstain from the use of M. Desomeaux's
Preventive . . . and would not permit a sexual act to transpire without its use."
Offering a more worn copy of this 1848 edition at $485, noted long-time
bookseller Edwin V. Glaser (Napa, California, specializing in science, medicine
and early technology) describes this book as follows:
One of the earliest and most influential American books written for the layman
dealing with and promoting contraception. First published a year earlier, it went
through a number of editions throughout the 1850's. In a footnote on p. 144,
Mauriceau advertises condoms at $ 5 a dozen and points out their usefulness for
preventing disease transmission as well as avoiding pregnancy. The text also
covers a wide variety of gynecological subjects, such as miscarriage, abortion,
menstrual difficulties, sterility, and childbirth. It is quite remarkable that
Mauriceau also suggests, on p. 200, that there should be a cleansing of the hands
and of the woman's body before manually extracting the placenta, "as the
omission of it may give rise to peurperal fever", and that he is not aware that
"others have practiced this method." This is a remarkably advanced view at a
time when Semmelweis and others were being ridiculed for expounding similar
views. Himes, pp. 262-63. See Cordasco 40-0883, citing the 1847 first printing.
73 MILLER, E[li]. P[eck]. VITAL FORCE: HOW WASTED AND HOW PRE-
SERVED. By E. P. Miller, M.D., Author of "How to Bathe," "Dyspepsia," Etc.
Eighth Thousand. New-York: Miller & Haynes, No. 170 Bleecker Street, 1870.
19 cm. vi, [3]-131, [7 (ads)] pp. Introduction to the third edition, pp. [3]-5;
Appendix, pp. [127]-131. Original purple cloth with gilt-decorated title on front
board; dark brown clay-based endpapers. Internally nearly fine; uneven fading
to covers, and a few holes to lower front joint. (purchased 1996) $50
The preface and copyright are both dated 1867, but the earliest edition shown on
OCLC is 1869 (locating only the copy at the University of Rochester Medical
Center). I find (October 19, 2010) one copy of an 1867 edition published in New
York by Fowler and Wells in "fair" condition offered for sale on the Internet for
$67.50.
No example of the present "Eighth Thousand" issue is recorded, but Harvard
Medical School library preserves a sole-located copy of an 1870 Seventh
Thousand. A Tenth Thousand issue, also 1870, is found in three known copies
(Univ. of Rochester Med. School, Univ. of Chicago, and American Antiquarian
Society). Subsequent editions appeared in 1872, '73, and '74, also each apparently
known in very few copies. After that, nothing until a stated reprint in 2010.
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