Sexual Inversion

by H. Havelock Ellis

This book is a reprint (with a critical introduction based on new archival research) of the first English medical textbook published on homosexuality: Havelock Ellis and John Addington Symonds' Sexual Inversion. Only a very small number of the original printing of this important text survive today.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, History, Sexuality, Classics, Theory, Queer

299 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1897

About the author

Henry Havelock Ellis, known as Havelock Ellis, was a British physician, writer, and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He was co-author of the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in 1897, and also published works on a variety of sexual practices and inclinations, including transgender psychology. He is credited with introducing the notions of narcissism and autoeroticism, later adopted by psychoanalysis. He served as president of the Galton Institute and, like many intellectuals of his era, supported eugenics.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read about half of this and then quickly skimmed the rest - just far too clinical for my tastes - and it was a bit unnerving how frequently words like abnormal, disgraceful, perverse, etc. are bandied about - as well as copious references to the 'lower races and classes'.

I actually only became interested in this since perhaps my favorite book of the year so far, Tom Crewe's The New Life, is a fictional recreation of the circumstances which lead to the writing of THIS book. I much preferred the fictional musings to this rather numbing dissection - although the case histories were sometimes amusingly interesting

[George Carlson]

This was so interesting like so so so interesting I love learning about sexology. Also I did NOTTTT read all of this book (there’s a lot of stuff in it that I didn’t have to read for class — so I stuck to the introduction and main text of sexual inversion, which was 232 pages). It’s an incredibly important source and contribution to homosexual emancipation — albeit it must be read through a contextual lens. There’s lots of material here and I’ve read some of the other texts in it previously, like A Problem in Greek Ethics, Letter from Professor X, and the Count V case. All are super interesting. With that being said the introduction was way too long and the “critical”-ness of the book was underwhelming (it didn’t seem like there Crozier added much - other than the introduction - and why didn’t he translate the sections and poems written in foreign languages?!?)

What struck me was how universal and timely the case studies are (Bi erasure and masc for masc gays have always existed!) and the only thing that changes is culture (language, morals, and laws around them). The egregious attempts at taxonomy within the field of sexology is kinda funny and reveals how intricate sexuality/sex/gender/expression are in a persons identity; and how it’s nearly impossible to classify an individuals with specific labels, even tho these sexologists tried so hard to do so.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taken as what it is, in its time and context, I think this is a remarkable work. It is determinedly scientific in its approach, with as little appeal to sentiment or moralism as could ever be expected of anyone writing in its era. And it is willing to venture a great many challenging ideas, in its time. First, that sexual orientation is to whatever extent congenital or innate (i.e., usually does not appear to be incited by any causative event). Also, that it does not appear to be readily responsive to attempts to "cure" it. Furthermore, that attempting such would appear to be harmful to both the patient and whatever future potential partners. Additionally, that legal remedies mandating its punishment do not appear to be legally sound, or socially beneficial.

Its greatest value for the modern reader who is not especially curious about the history of sexology for its own sake, however, may simply consist in its preservation of the self-descriptions and medical descriptions of many contemporaneous "inverts" (i.e., lovers of their own sex). This printing of accounts of homosexual life experiences is certainly a worthy preservation.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellis' original is perhaps the crucial text of Anglophone gay male studies, one whose tropes, methods, and hidden assumptions continue to govern today's political and religious trends. This recent critical edition excellently brings out Ellis' social and scientific background.