author
Bernard Simon Talmey
1862–1926
A New York gynecologist and medical writer, this early 20th-century author explored sex, love, and marriage in books that tried to bring medical discussion to subjects often treated with silence or taboo.
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About the author
Born in 1862, Bernard Simon Talmey became a physician and later practiced in New York, where he was known as a gynecologist. Library and archival records link him to works including Woman: A Treatise on the Normal and Pathological Emotions of Feminine Love, Love: A Treatise on the Science of Sex-Attraction, and Neurasthenia Sexualis, showing a strong focus on sexuality, relationships, and women's health.
Available sources suggest that he studied medicine in Munich and that, after time in general practice, he pursued further specialty training in gynecology and pathology before continuing his career in New York. His books were written for physicians and students, but they also reflect a wider effort to explain intimate human behavior through the language of medicine.
Talmey died in 1926. Today he is remembered mainly through his medical and popular-medical writing, which offers a revealing glimpse into how love, sex, and gender were discussed in his era.