Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique
Encyclopedia
Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique is a famous popular scientific treatise and self-help book published in London in 1926 by Dutch gynecologist Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde
, retired director of the Gynecological Clinic in Haarlem
, and "one of the major writers on human sexuality during the early twentieth century (Frayser & Whitby, p.300). It was the best-known work on its subject for several decades, and was reprinted 46 times in the original edition. After World-War Two, it sold over a half-million copies. A revised edition was published in 1965. and a subsequent one in 2000 (Melody & Pearson, p.96).
It proclaimed the "critical goal of marriage consists of sexual pleasure shared by husband and wife" (Melody and Person, p. 93). A 2000 edition of the book described itself as concentrating "on the cultivation of the technique of eroticism as an art in marriage."
Frederica Mathewes-Green writing in National Review Online described it as
The first printing had an insert: "The sale of this book is strictly limited to members of the medical profession, Psychoanalysts, Scholars, and to such adults as may have a definite position in the field of Physiological, Psychological, or Social Research." It was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum
in 1931.
Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde
Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde was a Dutch physician and gynæcologist who served as Director at the Gynæcological Institute in Haarlem. His 1926 book Het volkomen huwelijk made him an instant international celebrity...
, retired director of the Gynecological Clinic in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, and "one of the major writers on human sexuality during the early twentieth century (Frayser & Whitby, p.300). It was the best-known work on its subject for several decades, and was reprinted 46 times in the original edition. After World-War Two, it sold over a half-million copies. A revised edition was published in 1965. and a subsequent one in 2000 (Melody & Pearson, p.96).
It proclaimed the "critical goal of marriage consists of sexual pleasure shared by husband and wife" (Melody and Person, p. 93). A 2000 edition of the book described itself as concentrating "on the cultivation of the technique of eroticism as an art in marriage."
Frederica Mathewes-Green writing in National Review Online described it as
"the best-selling sex manual of all time. Over half a million copies were sold in the United States alone, and it enjoyed equal success in Europe. ... This is not a prude's book. Young couples who grab a used copy off the Internet may have even as much fun with it as their great-grandparents did." http://www.nationalreview.com/mathewes-green/mathewesgreen200411220815.asp
The first printing had an insert: "The sale of this book is strictly limited to members of the medical profession, Psychoanalysts, Scholars, and to such adults as may have a definite position in the field of Physiological, Psychological, or Social Research." It was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
in 1931.
Contemporary Reviews
- Harry Stack Sullivan. Review of Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique. By Th. H. Van De Velde, M. D. Translated by Stella BrowneStella BrowneStella Browne was an English feminist, socialist, sex radical, and birth control campaigner.-Life:Browne spent some time in Germany before World War I, meeting radical feminists there, such as the circle around Helene Stöcker....
. Introduction by J. Johnston Abraham, M. D. (London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1928, 323 pp.) American Journal of Psychiatry 1929 86: 218-223
- Connubial Hygiene Time [Review of Marie Carmichael Stopes's Married Love and Ideal Marriage, Its Physiology & Technique by Dr. Th. H. Van de Velde,] http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,741651,00.html "he analyzes and describes the minutiae of male and female physiological activities pertaining to sexual activities. Incidentally he defines a kiss 'an irregular intermittent pneumatic massage.' " (As Laipson discusses, it 'contained graphs depicting the comparative trajectories of women's and men's sexual excitement.")