'Tis Nature's Fault: Unauthorized Sexuality during the Enlightenment

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511629488

The essays in this 1988 volume address sexual phenomena in eighteenth-century Europe that were for one reason or another outside the legal or sanctified systems of acceptability: most notably, unwed heterosexual domesticity, masturbation, prostitution, libertinism, homosexuality, and pornography. The contributors, drawn from England, France, Italy, Holland, and the United States, illustrate the range of unauthorized sexual expression during the Enlightenment. The essays take an important first step toward integrating sexuality into our general understanding of eighteenth-century culture.

"The work is well documented and indispensable for an understanding of the development of sexual, political and social attitudes and behavior during the enlightenment." The Eighteenth Century

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv
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Contents
pp v-vi
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Introduction
pp vii-viii
- By Robert P. MacCubbin
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“The Secrets of Generation Display'd”: Aristotle's Master-piece in Eighteenth-Century England
pp 1-21
- By Roy Porter
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Sexual Imagination as Revealed in the Traité des superstitions of Abbé Jean-Baptiste Thiers
pp 22-30
- By Jean Marie Goulemot, Odile Wagner, Arthur Greenspan
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Married but not Churched: Plebeian Sexual Relations and Marital Nonconformity in Eighteenth-Century Britain
pp 31-42
- By John R. Gillis
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Moral Values in “La Suite de l'Entretien”
pp 43-60
- By Thédore Tarciylo, James Coke, Michael Murray
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Prostitution and Reform in Eighteenth-Century England
pp 61-74
- By Vern L. Bullough
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The Properties of Libertinism
pp 75-87
- By James G. Turner
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Between the Licit and the Illicit: the Sexuality of the King
pp 88-97
- By Jean-Pierre Guicciardi, Michael Murray
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The Sublimations of a Fetishist: Restif de la Bretonne (1734-1806)
pp 98-108
- By David Coward
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Sodomitical Subcultures, Sodomitical Roles, and the Gender Revolution of the Eighteenth Century: The Recent Historiography
pp 109-121
- By Randolph Trumbach
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The Priest, the Philosopher, and Homosexuality in Enlightenment France
pp 122-131
- By Michel Delon, Nelly Stephane
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The Pursuit of Homosexuality in the Eighteenth Century: “Utterly Confused Category” and/or Rich Repository?
pp 132-168
- By G. S. Rousseau
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Sodomy in the Dutch Republic during the Eighteenth Century
pp 169-178
- By Arend H. Huussen, Jr
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Parisian Homosexuals Create a Lifestyle, 1700-1750: The Police Archives
pp 179-191
- By Michel Rey, Robert A. Day, Robert Welch
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The Censor Censured: Expurgating Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
pp 192-201
- By Peter Sabor
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Chthonic and Pelagic Metaphorization in Eighteenth-Century English Erotica
pp 202-216
- By Paul-Gabriel Boucé
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Modes of Discourse and the Language of Sexual Reference in Eighteenth-Century French Fiction
pp 217-228
- By Robert J. Ellrich
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The Mélange de poésies diverses (1781) and the Diffusion of Manuscript Pornography in Eighteenth-Century France
pp 229-243
- By Robert L. Dawson
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Obscene Literature in Eighteenth-Century Italy: an Historical and Bibliographical Note
pp 244-260
- By Armando Marchi, James Coke, David Marsh
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'Tis Nature's Fault

Unauthorized Sexuality during the Enlightenment

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Introduction
pp vii-viii

“The Secrets of Generation Display'd”: Aristotle's Master-piece in Eighteenth-Century England
pp 1-21

Sexual Imagination as Revealed in the Traité des superstitions of Abbé Jean-Baptiste Thiers
pp 22-30

Married but not Churched: Plebeian Sexual Relations and Marital Nonconformity in Eighteenth-Century Britain
pp 31-42

Moral Values in “La Suite de l'Entretien”
pp 43-60

Prostitution and Reform in Eighteenth-Century England
pp 61-74

The Properties of Libertinism
pp 75-87

Between the Licit and the Illicit: the Sexuality of the King
pp 88-97

The Sublimations of a Fetishist: Restif de la Bretonne (1734-1806)
pp 98-108

Sodomitical Subcultures, Sodomitical Roles, and the Gender Revolution of the Eighteenth Century: The Recent Historiography
pp 109-121

The Priest, the Philosopher, and Homosexuality in Enlightenment France
pp 122-131

The Pursuit of Homosexuality in the Eighteenth Century: “Utterly Confused Category” and/or Rich Repository?
pp 132-168

Sodomy in the Dutch Republic during the Eighteenth Century
pp 169-178

Parisian Homosexuals Create a Lifestyle, 1700-1750: The Police Archives
pp 179-191

The Censor Censured: Expurgating Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
pp 192-201

Chthonic and Pelagic Metaphorization in Eighteenth-Century English Erotica
pp 202-216

Modes of Discourse and the Language of Sexual Reference in Eighteenth-Century French Fiction
pp 217-228

The Mélange de poésies diverses (1781) and the Diffusion of Manuscript Pornography in Eighteenth-Century France
pp 229-243

Obscene Literature in Eighteenth-Century Italy: an Historical and Bibliographical Note
pp 244-260

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'Tis Nature's Fault

Unauthorized Sexuality during the Enlightenment

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