PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.
It was not my intention to publish a study of an abnormal manifestation of
the sexual instinct before discussing its normal manifestations. It has
happened, however, that this part of my work is ready first, and, since I
thus gain a longer period to develop the central part of my subject, I do
not regret the change of plan.
I had not at first proposed to devote a whole volume to sexual inversion.
It may even be that I was inclined to slur it over as an unpleasant
subject, and one that it was not wise to enlarge on. But I found in time
that several persons for whom I felt respect and admiration were the
congenital subjects of this abnormality. At the same time I realized that
in England, more than in any other country, the law and public opinion
combine to place a heavy penal burden and a severe social stigma on the
manifestations of an instinct which to those persons who possess it
frequently appears natural and normal. It was clear, therefore, that the
matter was in special need of elucidation and discussion.
There can be no doubt that a peculiar amount of ignorance exists regarding
the subject of sexual inversion. I know medical men of many years' general
experience who have never, to their knowledge, come across a single case.
We may remember, indeed, that some fifteen years ago the total number of
cases recorded in scientific literature scarcely equaled those of British
race which I have obtained, and that before my first cases were published
not a single British case, unconnected with the asylum or the prison, had
ever been recorded. Probably not a very large number of people are even
aware that the turning in of the sexual instinct toward persons of the
same sex can ever be regarded as inborn, so far as any sexual instinct is
inborn. And very few, indeed, would not be surprised if it were possible
to publish a list of the names of sexually inverted men and women who at
the present time are honorably known in church, state, society, art, or
letters. It could not be positively affirmed of all such persons that they
were born inverted, but in most the inverted tendency seems to be
instinctive, and appears at a somewhat early age. In any case, however, it
must be realized that in this volume we are not dealing with subjects
belonging to the lunatic asylum, or the prison. We are concerned with
individuals who live in freedom, some of them suffering intensely from
their abnormal organization, but otherwise ordinary members of society. In
a few cases we are concerned with individuals whose moral or artistic
ideals have widely influenced their fellows, who know nothing of the
peculiar organization which has largely molded those ideals.
I am indebted to several friends for notes, observations, and
correspondence on this subject, more especially to one, referred to as
"Z.," and to another as "Q.," who have obtained a considerable number of
reliable histories for me, and have also supplied many valuable notes; to
"Josiah Flynt" (whose articles on tramps in Atlantic Monthly and
Harper's Magazine have attracted wide attention) for an appendix on
homosexuality among tramps; to Drs. Kiernan, Lydston, and Talbot for
assistance at various points noted in the text; and to Dr. K., an American
woman physician, who kindly assisted me in obtaining cases, and has also
supplied an appendix. Other obligations are mentioned in the text.
All those portions of the book which are of medical or medico-legal
interest, including most of the cases, have appeared during the last three
years in the Alienist and Neurologist, the Journal of Mental Science,
the Centralblatt für Nervenheilkunde, the Medico-legal Journal, and
the Archivo delle Psicopatie Sessuale. The cases, as they appear in the
present volume, have been slightly condensed, but nothing of genuine
psychological interest has been omitted. Owing to some delay in the
publication of the English edition of the work, a German translation by my
friend, Dr. Hans Kurella, editor of the Centralblatt für
Nervenheilkunde, has already appeared (1896) in the Bibliothek für
Sozialwissenschaft. The German edition contains some matter which has
finally been rejected from the English edition as of minor importance; on
the other hand, much has been added to the English edition, and the whole
carefully revised.
I have only to add that if it may seem that I have unduly ignored the
cases and arguments brought forward by other writers, it is by no means
because I wish to depreciate the valuable work done by my predecessors in
this field. It is solely because I have not desired to popularize the
results previously reached, but simply to bring forward my own results. If
I had not been able to present new facts in what is perhaps a new light, I
should not feel justified in approaching the subject of sexual inversion
at all.
HAVELOCK ELLIS.
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