7. Aristotle, pseud.

Aristotle's works compleated in four parts. Aristotle's compleat master piece. Aristotle's compleat and experienc'd midwife. Aristotle's book of problems. Aristotle's last legacy, unfolding the mysteries of nature in the generation of man. (London : Printed and sold by the Booksellers, 1749)

Aristotle’s masterpiece is a sex manual and midwifery book which first appeared in England in 1684. Although attributed to Aristotle the philosopher, it is thought to have been written by William Salmon. It has the reputation of being semi-pornographic and was banned in Britain until the 1960s. Usually printed on poor paper with illustrations from damaged wood-cuts, it was sold surreptitiously by booksellers who often dealt in other lines such as birth control appliances.

The frontispiece shows Aristotle with a hairy woman and a black baby. The text explains that the hairy woman was the result of her mother looking at a Bible illustration of John the Baptist in the desert, wearing skins; while the black baby, born of a white couple, is the result of his mother looking at a picture of a black man at the moment of conception.