Item #69644 Phallic Objects, Monuments and Remains: Illustrations of the Rise and Development of the Phallic Idea (Sex Worship) and its Embodiment in Works of Nature and Art. Phallic Worship, ANONYMOUS, Hargrave Jennings ?
Phallic Objects, Monuments and Remains: Illustrations of the Rise and Development of the Phallic Idea (Sex Worship) and its Embodiment in Works of Nature and Art.

Phallic Objects, Monuments and Remains: Illustrations of the Rise and Development of the Phallic Idea (Sex Worship) and its Embodiment in Works of Nature and Art.

London: Privately Printed. 1889. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Small octavo. (viii) + 76pp.+ (+ivpp adverts & blanks). White parchment covered boards with red illustration and lettering, beveled edges. Frontispiece. One of an unstated but apparently small limited printing. A volume from the "Nature Worship and Mystical Series" on phallic worship privately & anonymously published, but believed to have been authored by Hargrave Jennings (1817-1890) a British Freemason, Rosicrucian, and student of comparative religion. Jennings was best known for his writing on the subject of phallism (phallicism - phallic worship) and its place in the origin of all religions. The anonymity of this series would have been necessary because the subject matter of the work was considered much too controversial for public release at the time. Unfortunately this also makes it difficult to determine whether the books are first editions or not - a few in the series appear to have been first published under other titles, which is why we are calling it a "first edition thus." Jennings was also the author of 'Phallicism, Celestial and Terrestrial', 'The Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries ' among others. Someone - most likely Jennings himself - writing on behalf of the publishers wrote of this volume as: "describing a number of the most celebrated monuments, consisting of towers, pillars and stones connected with Phallism, exhibits and illustrates many of the peculiar features of that singular worship, and the wide extent of territory over which it prevailed ... A large share of it has been devoted to a escription of Phallic remains in the kingdom of Ireland ..."." Both the binding and paper stock of the books in this series are notoriously fragile - the present volume is in unusually good condition. White boards darkened at edges, margins and spine (as common), a little rubbing to boards, corners bruised. Endpapers unevenly browned. Still a solid, VG+ copy, and unusual thus. Item #69644

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