A Treatise on the Crime of Onan

In this nineteenth‑century treatise the author, a physician, turns his clinical eye toward a subject that was both taboo and widely misunderstood: the physical and moral consequences of self‑induced sexual activity. Drawing on a series of case histories, he describes the ailments that can arise, while also wrestling with the language required to discuss such intimate matters without offending the sensibilities of his readers. The opening pages reveal his earnest desire to offer a modest, yet thorough, guide that could both inform and deter.

The work is as much a reflection on the challenges of speaking openly about the body as it is a medical manual. The author explains his revisions, the painstaking effort to balance scientific detail with the era’s standards of decency, and his hope that the modest reader will receive his counsel with gratitude. Listeners will find a fascinating snapshot of Victorian medicine, moral anxiety, and the timeless quest to understand human health.