The Ricky Jay Collection

The Ricky Jay Collection

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 306. (Hermaphrodite) | The Angolan anomaly .

(Hermaphrodite) | The Angolan anomaly 

Auction Closed

October 28, 08:54 PM GMT

Estimate

1,500 - 2,500 USD

Lot Details

Description

(Hermaphrodite)

Just arriv'd from Abroad…The Famous African… [London: np, ca. 1750]


Broadside (242 x 185 mm). Letterpress text; some foxing. Mounted, framed, and glazed with Plexiglas; not examined out of frame.  


"Hermaphrodites are rarely the subject of polite conversation, but as both medical curiosities and exhibited marvels they have attracted considerable scrutiny. Sometime after 1740 a 'Famous African' returned to London from unspecified travel abroad and was exhibited near Ludgate Hill. A twenty-seven-year-old from Angola, this anomaly possessed the characteristics of both sexes, and a demeanor said to be perfectly manly while its smile was perfectly feminine" (EE 30).  


REFERENCE:

EE, pp. 30-31

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