What do you think?
Rate this book
The Riddle of "Man-Manly" Love: The Pioneering Work on Male Homosexuality
A century before Stonewall and the rise of the modern gay and lesbian movement, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825-1895), lawyer, classical scholar, and openly gay man, was boldly and publicly defending the rights of homosexuals. Between 1864 and 1880, he published a series of twelve tracts, which he collectively titled Research on the Riddle of "Man-Manly" Love. Much more than a seminal work on the causes of homosexuality, Ulrich's monumental study deeply influenced an entire generation of sex researchers, including Richard von Kraft-Ebing and Havelock Ellis. Now, for the first time, this pioneering work by an important researcher in gay studies is available in English in its entirety, newly translated by Michael A. Lombardi-Nash.
In The Riddle of "Man-Manly" Love, Ulrichs surveys literary, historical, physiological, and other data in his argument that homosexuality is not a disease or a sin, but perfectly natural, and that the strict line of differentiation between men and women has been overemphasized. Turning to the science of embryology, Ulrichs contends that male, as well as female, homosexuality results from a crossing of the male and female generative principles during the first crucial stages of fetal development. Thus, homosexual men are essentially "male" in body, "female" in desire - crucially different from heterosexual men. Homosexuality (and, with that hermaphroditism and bisexuality) is the work of nature, hence innate and unavoidable.
While these volumes may be read with pleasure and profit by all, they provide a scholarly and indispensible reference work to educators and social and sex researchers alike.
In The Riddle of "Man-Manly" Love, Ulrichs surveys literary, historical, physiological, and other data in his argument that homosexuality is not a disease or a sin, but perfectly natural, and that the strict line of differentiation between men and women has been overemphasized. Turning to the science of embryology, Ulrichs contends that male, as well as female, homosexuality results from a crossing of the male and female generative principles during the first crucial stages of fetal development. Thus, homosexual men are essentially "male" in body, "female" in desire - crucially different from heterosexual men. Homosexuality (and, with that hermaphroditism and bisexuality) is the work of nature, hence innate and unavoidable.
While these volumes may be read with pleasure and profit by all, they provide a scholarly and indispensible reference work to educators and social and sex researchers alike.
712 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1869
About the author
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
84 books23 followersUlrichs was born in Aurich, then part of the Kingdom of Hanover, in north-western Germany. He graduated in law and theology from Göttingen University in 1846. From 1846 to 1848, he studied history at Berlin University, writing a dissertation in Latin on the Peace of Westphalia.
From 1849 to 1857 Ulrichs worked as an official legal adviser for the district court of Hildesheim in the Kingdom of Hanover. He was dismissed when his homosexuality became open knowledge.
He is seen today as the pioneer of the modern gay rights movement and as the promotor of the Living Latin.
From 1849 to 1857 Ulrichs worked as an official legal adviser for the district court of Hildesheim in the Kingdom of Hanover. He was dismissed when his homosexuality became open knowledge.
He is seen today as the pioneer of the modern gay rights movement and as the promotor of the Living Latin.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.