A history of English sexual morals / by Ivan Bloch ; translated by William H. Forstern.

  • Iwan Bloch
Date:
1936
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A history of English sexual morals / by Ivan Bloch ; translated by William H. Forstern. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    51/700 (page 21)
    countrywomen, but also themselves take all the steps which have been the privilege of men in love to take since the beginning of the world: such as declarations, letters, messages by go-betweens, and all the honourable arts of courtship. A young man of striking appearance—for where practically all men are well made, only a man of exceptional good looks can attract attention—is inundated with watch- chains, toothpick cases (with suitable devices and mottoes, and never made quite the same), scarves, handkerchiefs (worked with mysterious letters and arrows, and so on), tie- pins (containing a lock of the giver's hair), a regular collec- tion of souvenirs, called keepsakes, and neat little editions of favourite authors, especially Shenstone, Gray, and Pope's Eape of the Lock, on the front page of which some telling verse is inscribed, and above all with letters. Such letters as the Widow Currie wrote to Tom Jones are certainly sent to hundreds of young men1.' This is the fullest tribute I have ever read to the good looks of Englishmen and to the effects of these good looks. Archenholtz especially appreciated the regular features, the fine complexion and the slenderness of the Englishman. As a matter of fact, the fresh and delicate colour of the Englishman, noticeable even in quite old men, is largely due to the mild damp climate, which preserves the tissues of the skin. Emerson is of opinion that it is the health of the whole bodily structure which speaks to us in the flash and power of the eye. The passion for long walks, for riding, for tennis, for rowing and other games and exercises, as well as great cleanliness, has a great deal to do, without any doubt, with increasing English beauty, but it cannot be denied that its main cause is to be found in climatic conditions, in precisely those natural influences which are responsible for the 1 J. W. v. Archenholtz, Annals, Vol. VIII, pp. 247-250. Many letters of the kind referred to are quoted. [21]