Manual of classical Erotology (De figuris Veneris)

1884·4.7 MB·English

by  Forberg, Friedrich Karl, 1770-1846

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HARVARD
COLLEGE
LIBRARY.
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MANUAL
OF
Classical Erotology
(DefigurisVeneris)
FRED.CHAS. FORBERG
S-V-5
LITERALENGLISHVERSION.
MANCHESTER
One Hundred-Copies
PRIVATELYPRINTEDFORVISCOUNT
JULIANSMITHSONM.A.,ANDFRIENDS
1884
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/1harvard\
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
SEP 4 1963
NOTE
OneHundredCopiesonlyofthisvolumehavebeen
printed(allonthesamepaperandthetypedistributed)
forViscountJulianSmithsonM.A.,theTranslator,
andhisFriends. NoneoftheseCopiesareforSale.
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Foreword
Itisperhapswelltostateatoncethatthe
“ManualofClassicalErotology”isintended
only for Students of the Classics, Lawyers,
PsychologistsandMedicalMen. Thoseper-
sons,wethink,whomayperuseitasameans
of awakening voluptuous sensations will be
severely disappointed. Never did a work
moreseriousissuefromthepress. Herewe
havenocuriouseroticstorybornofadiseased
mind,butacold, relentlessanalysisofthose
humanpassionswhichitisevertheobjectof
Sciencetowrestlewithandoverthrow.
Asabasisalsoforthecorrectinterpretation
ofthedramaoftheancientworld,Forberg’s
n FOREWORD
studiesaremostvaluable. Apartfromthat
extraordinarybook, Rosenbaum’sHistoryof
theEsotericHabits,BeliefsandCustomsof
Antiquity,weknowofnoothercompilation
which casts so intense a search-light upon
thoseCrimes,Folliesand Perversionsofthe
“Sixth Sense” which transformed the olden
gloryofGreeceandRomeintoaby-wordand
areproachamongstthenations.
ThepresentEnglishtranslationnowoffered
toScholarsisentirelynewandstrictlyexact.
Nolibertieshavebeentakenwiththetext. It
wasfeltthatanyattempt—toaddmorecolour,
ortoincreasetheeffect, involvingadepart-
ure from the lines—of stern simplicity laid
down by Forberg, would have detracted
fromthescientificvalueandcharacterofthe
work.
The late Isidore Liseux issued in 1882 a
FrenchversionwithLatintextimprimeacent
exemplaires“forhimselfandfriends”. This
workisnowveryseldomtobemetwithbe-
cause the whole edition was privately sub-
scribed by Scholars and Bibliophilesbefore
itsappearance. Thethievingcopyistswentof
courseimmediatelytoworkandsomewretch-
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FOREWORD ni
ed penny-a-liner, utterly ignorant of both
LatinandGreek,producedanEnglishtran-
scriptfulloffaults,basedonlyontheFrench
text.
Thereisnoneedtoaddthatsuchabookas
thisisofnovaluetotheStudentasaworkof
reference,forthefaultyandforcelessrender-
ingsoftentobemetwithin Liseux’version
are reproduced with charming exactness,
whiletheabsenceoftheoriginaltextmakesit
allthemoreperiloustoaccepttheworkasa
guide. Havingsaidthismuchconcerningthe
onlytwotranslationsknowntous,weproceed
togivesomeaccountofgoodmasterForberg
andwhatisknownoftheinceptionandbuild-
ingupofhischef-d’oeuvre.
TheeminentAuthorofthisbookneverbe-
came famous. Hisname ismentionedocca-
sionallyinconnexionwiththe“Hermaphro-
ditus”ofAntonio Beccadelli,knownbythe
surname of Panormitanus, whichheedited.
Brunet, Charles Nodier, and the Bibliog-
raphiedesOuvragesrelatifsauxFemmes,a
l’AmouretauMariage,speakofhiminthis
connexion;whilealistofhisworksappears
moreoverintheIndexLocupletissimusLibro-
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IV FOREWORD
rum or Biicher-Lexicon (Bibliographical
Lexicon) ofChristianGottlobKayser,Leip-
zig,1834. ButwiththeexceptionoftheAll-
gemeineDeutsche Biographie, the publica-
tionofwhichwascommencedin1878bythe
Historical Commissionofthe MunichAca-
demy,andwhichhasdevotedashortnoticeto
him,allDictionariesandCollectionswhether
ofAncientorofModernBiographyaremute
withrespecttohim. TheConversations-Lexi-
conandthevastEncyclopaediaofErschand
Gruberdonotcontainasinglelineabouthim,
whileMichaud, Didot, Bacheletand Dezo-
bry,Bouillet,Vapereau,utterlyignorehisex-
istence. Forallthathewelldeservesaword
ortwo.
Friedrich Karl Forberg was born in the
year 1770 at Meuselwitz, in the Duchy of
Saxe-Altenburg, and died in 1848 at Hild-
burghausen. Hewasaphilosopherandacol-
laboratorwithFichte,whilehedevotedapart
ofhisattentiontoreligiousexegesis:butab—ove
allhewasaphilologian,andahumanist, at
oncelearnedandinquisitive.Hefollowedfirst
the career of a University-teacher; Privat-
docentin1792,AssistantProfessorintheFac-
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FOREWORD V
ulty of PhilosophyatJena (1793), he was
installedin1796asCo-RectoratSaalfeld.His
inaugural thesis: “Dissertatioinauguralisde
aesthetica transcendentali”, is dated 1792
i(sJeenoan,8tvhoe.)Or;itghiinsawlasCofnodliltoiwoendsbaynda“FTorremaatl-
LimitationsofFreeWill”inGermanandan
“ExtractfrommyOccasionalWritings”also
inGerman (1795). From 1796to 1800he
wroteextensivelyindefenceoftheteachings
of FichteinJournals, Reviews, particularly
in the Philosophical Magazine of Schmidt,
and in sundry publications emanating from
Fichte himself. He published moreover:
“AnimadversionesinlocaselectaNoviTesta-
menti” (Saalfeld, 1798, 4to.), “an Apology
for his pretended Atheism”, in German
(Gotha,1799,8vo.). “ObligationsofLearned
Men”,inGerman (Gotha,1801,8vo.),etc.
Thesecondpartof his lifeseemstohave
beendevotedentirelytoLiterature. In 1807
hewasappointedasConservatoroftheAulic
LibraryatCoburg,andhavinghadenoughof
philosophy,heturnedhiswholeattentionto
thestudyofLatinandGreekantiquity. Pre-
viouslytothishistasteshadalreadybeenre-
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