Das Ratirahasyam: Die Indische Ars Amatoria
Berlin: Lotus-Verlag, 1903. First edition. 25x17cm, [1], 101pp plus [3], 35pp paginated section of notes at rear. Text in English, 4 unnumbered color plates at front. 1/2 polished red calf over checkered cloth boards, brown spine label lettered in gilt. Samuel Weiser ticket on front pastedown, original front wrapper bound in. Stab holes at inner margins, few smudges to outer margins else clean and near fine.
Rare English translation of the Ratirahasya, a ca. 12th century Indian Sex Manual written by the poet, Kokkoka. The text differs greatly from the ancient Kama Sutra in that it deals with medieval Indian society and it is speculated it was written for a king named Venudutta. The manual deals with various topics such as types of genitals, pleasing women based on the lunar calendar, sexual congress and positions, stages of love such as weight loss and fainting, detailed descriptions of Indian feminine beauty, aphrodisiacs, and others.
We find little mention of this translation by Schmidt, although it was reprinted in Calcutta by the Medical Book Company in 1949 and 1960. Of the 1903 first edition, OCLC cites a single holding at Waseda University in Japan.
From the library of Blanche DeVries and Pierre Bernard.
Price: $600.00