Plain Secrets, First Edition (7 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Condition: Good. 1st. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Condition: Very Good. 1st. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

hardcover. Condition: Fine copy in fine dust jacket. 1st. 8vo, 208 pp.

First edition Fine and bright in like pictorial dustjacket with clean bright text.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. I'm going to call this book scarce on the simple evidence that I can find no reference to it anywhere. It is certainly, at the time of typing, the only copy listed on the internet. So, what's in it? There's a preface by the author in which he justifies the necessity for this book (as, I suppose, a book on sex had to be justified in 1899) - partly by using extravagant claims: ("So long as the human race remains ignorant of the higher laws of sex, there will be strong reasons to believe that individuals will fall short of the full development of their powers, and that nations will tend toward final extinction."), and partly by insisting that knowledge of such things leads to a healthier life. For example, this veiled reference to masturbation in which he begs parents to "rise to the level of their responsibilities" because by being "guided by this work in fortifying the young against evil habits, the secret vice would soon be eradicated as light drives away darkness, and childhood and youth would soon have nothing to mar their development." The book itself is, of course, a miasma of outdated ideas: that country men mature more slowly than city men; that "The Secret Vice" is the mother of all evils and will lead to "extreme physical debility and intellectual dementia". But there are some notions that were as sound then as they are now. The author's distaste for sexual domestic violence and rape, for example; his absolute hatred of the corset; or his insistence on sex education for the young. Dr Moss is listed with the post-nominals "A.M., M.D.". I think the "A.M." is the equivalent of a modern-day M.A., but the medical doctor in him comes to the fore later in the book as he digresses into nutrition and the digestive system. But this book is fascinating! I have thoroughly enjoyed dipping into it and hearing the ardent voice of Dr Moss. Now, condition: the boards are worn at the corners and spine ends, and the spine panel is faded to the extent that any lettering is now invisible. Internally, the hinge is cracked in several places, notably at the title page where the webbing is most visible, but also at the rear endpapers and at page 64. However, this slightly tenuous hold, in places, of the textblock on the binding has not resulted in any loose or detached pages, and internally the book is clean and unmarked.