THE KISS AND ITS HISTORY by Dr. Christopher Nyrop ~ First Edition, 1901 HC Publisher: Sands & Co. London (1901; First Translated Edition)
A beautiful luxury leather-bound copy of "The Kiss and Its History" by Dr. Christopher Nyrop, from 1901. First translated (English) edition. Translated by William Frederick Harvey. Bleached leather boards with art nouveau floral scrollwork on front and on spine, with gilt writing. The boards and binding are solid and tight with some shelf-wear. The pages are crisp and clean save for some light spots of foxing on the first five pages and the inside back board. A rare and romantic book on the kiss throughout history — from a uniquely 19th-century perspective. Please see below for more information on this interesting tome.
The Kiss and its History is an odd 200-page
thesis written by Dr. Kristoffer Nyrop, who was a professor of romance
philology at University of Copenhagen. The book is a clinical analysis of the
kiss in popular culture prior to the 19th century. The original text in Danish
was translated to English by William Frederick Harvey in
1901. Nyrop’s points of references are the works of poets, thinkers,
and storytellers from around the world right from the 14th century to somewhere
around the 19th century, eras of intensely delicate sensibilities. All the
interpretations of the kiss is from the male perspective, so the book borders
on misogyny. However, Nyrop does seem to be keen about including a woman’s
perspective to kissing. -Bookish Chronicles
