Hugo Gernsback, who invented the term “science fiction,” also started a magazine called Sexology in 1933. The same boundless curiosity that led to Amazing Stories also spawned articles on priapism and other sexual oddities.
The Best Of Sexology, which came out this past fall, includes a host of pulpy essays from Gernsback’s seminal (so to speak) sex magazine, which he launched two decades after he started publishing science fiction. Apparently, the magazine’s tolerant, sex-positive stance was a big hit, and the book includes a picture of the late, great Bettie Page reading a copy.
There are essays on fetishes, including the pompous “Why I Am A Fetishist.” There’s a feature on sexological inventions, including a device to prevent self-gratification. Other titillating topics include French prostitutes, gay chickens, and humans with tails. Scientific topics of the highest order, in other words. [Amazon via PopMatters]
