Aristotle's Masterpiece

[3] Although many people in the twenty-first century might think of early modern readers as prudish, Aristotle’s Masterpiece was not only a book on midwifery but also a sex manual.

"[4] Also, unlike many later texts, it acknowledged women’s sexual pleasure[4][5] – something that people often downplayed in later centuries after male midwives rose in popularity and open conversations about sex became less common.

[1] The first version borrowed most of its content from two earlier works, the Secret Miracles of Nature by Levinus Lemnius and the anonymous Complete Midwives Practice Enlarged.

Because the book was based on the ancient theory of humorism, it provided some outdated information, in particular on the home remedies it prescribed.

The second chapter advocates sexual intercourse in monogamous relationships and warns against polygamy and adultery, because both are forbidden by Christian doctrine.

Many people (including medical practitioners) used this theory to explain a number of maladies and bodily functions, as well as differences between the sexes.

"[7] The influence of Galenic and Aristotelian ideas can be seen in many sex manuals and midwifery books from the period, including those that had a direct impact on Aristotle’s Masterpiece.

In the past, “[c]hildbirth was a largely female affair” – not even the husband or male physicians were present unless the mother, child, or both were dead or dying.

While male midwives were increasing in popularity, many people were forced to deal with concerns about the propriety of men practicing obstetrics and gynecology.

[19] Yet twenty-first century historians argue that male midwives’ efforts at increasing their acceptability had some unintended consequences.

Because their efforts coincided with the English economy’s transformation "into a commercial and financial powerhouse,"[20] scholars such as Mary E. Fissell argue that contemporary popular literature and vernacular medical books, including Aristotle’s Masterpiece, depict “[s]exual relations […] as market relations, with men as active purchasers and women as the passive objects of consumption.

Published before concerns were raised about the sexual propriety of male midwives, the text did not change to fit new societal standards.

Thus, Aristotle’s Masterpiece “has the distinction of being one of the few books read by colonial Americans that was still printed and sold to a general audience in the twentieth century.

"[23] Lastly, despite any misconceptions of biology and anatomy it contained, the advice Aristotle’s Masterpiece provided “was both more accurate and less harmful” than that given in many of its Victorian-era counterparts.

Consequently, scholars such as Vern L. Bullough argue that “the writers of Aristotle’s Masterpiece were harbingers of a new age of sexual freedom.