1862 EVILS OF "SELF ABUSE." Quack Medicine Pipeline for Sexual Anatomy Museum & Snake Oil.

A scarce New York iteration of Jordan and Beck's book on the evil physical and emotional effects of "self abuse," designed to drum up business for their anatomical museum and cures for sexual dysfunction. 

The identity of Louis J. Jordan is somewhat shrouded in mystery. The title claims a medical degree in Edinburgh and membership in the Royal College of Surgeons of London. There has been, to date, no corroboration of these claims. Additionally, over the course of the mid and late 19th century, the name "Jordan" came to be associated with several anatomical museums in such far-flung locals as London, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, and even Melbourne, Australia.

Not only is any real connection unclear, the existence of Louis J. Jordan and the existence of many of the museums is uncorroborated. In keeping with this projected global presence of Dr. Jordan, The back cover of the present edition advertises several works which appear not to exist: a tract by Jordan & Beck, Happiness or Misery; an Atlas of the Formation of the Human Body by M. P. Erdl; and The Life of a European in India, Being a Treatise on the Diseases of Tropical. Countries, more Especially on those of the Organs of Generation. All three works appear to have been fabrications meant to bolster the apparent influence of the proprietors. And again, in the same vein, the book claims to be the 51st edition, boasting of the speedy sale of the first 50 editions. This is almost certainly a complete fabrication. The present imprint is known by just a handful of extant examples and they all appear to be the same "51st" edition imprint.

Echoing such 19th-century health reformers as Sylvester Graham, John Todd, and Amariah Brigham, Jordan warns against the all but sure dangers of masturbation, writing that the "pernicious habit of self-abuse" is the cause of "[m]ost of the functional disorders of the generative system" and "the great prevalence of sexual debility." Add to these connected symptoms, instances of depression, suicide, chronic acne, and lunacy. 

Final leaf is a printed advert for The New York Museum of Anatomy, run by proprietors Drs. Jordan & Beck, who apparently lecture there daily. Though, it says, it may be possible they are not present because of other pressing duties. The collection purports to contain nearly one thousand anatomical models and divulge the "mysteries of creation." 

The text of this edition not the same as the text of the San Francisco edition, and includes a fascinating section on self diagnosis with letters, which we suspect are not real either, written by the victims of self-abuse.

Not a single copy has appeared at auction or in the trade we can trace. 

Drs. Jordan & Beck. Members of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, Doctors of Medicine, Edinburgh, and Demonstrators of Anatomy and Surgery. The Philosophy of Marriage, being Four Important Lectures, on the Function and Disorders of the Nervous System, and Reproductive Organs. Illustrated with Cases. New York. Bloom & Smith Printers. 1862. 174pp + advert.

Original wraps with chipping to spine, corners folded as shown. The rear wrap attached by an appx 2m piece of paper. Corners nearly all turned. Textually very solid and clean.