the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

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Richard Quain : Dictionary of Medicine

'Britain was a mainly urban society...and soon an expanding range of sexual literature became available in the cities. Mark Grossek, the son of a Jewish immigrant tailor in Southwark, acquired his knowledge from grafitti, scandalous stories in the local press, 'Lloyd's Weekly News', 'Measure for Measure', the Song of Solomon, some old plays a fellow student had dug out of his father's library, General Booth's 'In Darkest England', Tobias Smollett, Quain's 'Dictionary of Medicine', as well as Leviticus ("For myself, the most subtle aura of enticement was wafted from the verb 'begat' and the noun 'concubine'"). There was also Ovid, but unfortunately the popular translation published by Bohn "had left all the tasty chunks in Latin".'

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group: Mark Grossek      Print: Book

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