Vintage Sex Advice Books

Sex advice is a combination of art and science. It has not evolved much over the decades, unless you count learning how to use Tinder, or simple guidance like "don’t trust Ashley Madison." The most valuable advice comes from a vast library of source material that may not get you laid by swipe, but will certainly prove useful in solving legitimate relationship issues and in one on one dating. Vintage sex advice books provide a window to the views of authentic sex advice gurus.

A veritable manual for the philanderer, the seducer, the lover, and the husband. A sort of everyman’s guide to the secrets of bliss in bed. Dr. Vyvyan Howarth's Secret Techniques of Erotic Delight contains more than 100 case histories of persons of both sexes who have revealed their problems to professional clinics, and who have been led to new and rewarding discoveries. Including illustrations and a forward by Dr. Albert Ellis, one of psychology’s most recognized names, Secret Techniques explores individual's needs for each other as the author explores the methods of seduction and the importance of love-play.

In Why Men Shouldn’t Marry, a dedicated, consecrated, enthusiastic bachelor explains why man’s natural and proper function is "to make it as long as it is fun and to cut out the instant it becomes a drag." Jim Moran's book cites records from divorce courts and an examination of genetic roulette as evidence of why men shouldn't marry.

Sex and the Single Man offers professional advice for the man who is living without a woman: how to survive disappointment in love, how to avoid becoming a sex pervert, how to pick a suitable wife, how to avoid medical complications, and where and how to pick up girls. Written by Dr. Albert Ellis, this 1963 novel comes straight from the mind of one of psychology’s most renowned therapists. His development of Rational Emotional Behavior Therapy is his greatest contribution to the psychology world. This type of therapy is the concentration of many of his books, including Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and A Guide to Rational Living. By the 1960s, Ellis was synonymous with the American sexual revolution.

One of the world’s leading psychologists, Albert Ellis, destroys the myth of sexual guilt—from masturbation to adultery—and offers sound, convincing encouragement for a healthier, freer attitude. In Sex Without Guilt, published in 1966, Albert explores the state of censored sexuality and battles it with the implementation of self-acceptance. When Albert Ellis first entered the sexual revolution, his views and theories were controversial and sometimes taboo. This vintage sex advice book was rewritten and updated by Ellis towards the end of his life, retitled Sex Without Guilt in the 21st Century. It is in the reworked version that Ellis enhanced the content and dedicated an advice chapter to homosexuals on how to enjoy their sex lives to the fullest. His other works include How To Keep People From Pushing Your Buttons and How To Stubbornly Refuse To Make Yourself Miserable About Anything (Yes, Anything).

The shocking acts of sadism, masochism, and flagellation practiced through the centuries are surprisingly still very much alive in many areas of the world, including the United States. The Cruel and the Meek is an illustrated, detailed discussion of the use of sadism and masochism as sexual stimuli, and the harm they can cause participants if not practiced with caution. Written in 1966, some of its views may seem outdated, but it is rich with history. His other works include Intercourse Illustrated and Lesbian Love: Women in Love Throughout the Ages.

In all ages, love has been not only a great pleasure but an inspiration to all forms of art. The Complete History of Eroticism is a compilation of his vintage sex advice book series, A History of Eroticism. Each of the comprehensive volumes is illustrated more than 30 pages of images, including comics, photographs, and product promotions. The collective of volumes in The Complete History target specific places, times, and sexual preferences. Brusendorff has also written other historical novels regarding sex, including Love's Picture Book: The History of Pleasure and Moral Indignation.

Leopold von Dacher-Masoch gave his name to one of the man’s most misunderstood emotional longings: masochism! Enraptured as a child by beatings, Dacher-Masoch later developed a love for such sexual stimuli as whips with sharpened hooks, and, in his search for self-humiliation, even arranged for his own mistress to be seduced by others. Yet this same man wrote nearly 100 novels and was, surprisingly, intensely sentimental. A beautiful and compassionate book, The First Masochist by James Cleugh gives the reader a history of Dacher-Masoch and an insight into components of BDSM.

Once dubbed "America’s first complete sex course in one volume!" in 1969, the mystery of sex was unlocked with the aid of more than 150 full color and black and white photographs. The Photographic Manual of Sexual Intercourse, written by L.R. O’Conner with an introduction by Dr. Albert Ellis, features images of a man and woman, a married couple, together, engaged in sexual intercourse positions. A type of Kama Sutra, in the 1960s, it was promoted as "the most sophisticated, modern, and up to date marriage manual ever written."

This classic by one of the world’s greatest anthropologists and sexologists explores the sexual expressions of the human animal. The Sexual Relations of Mankind covers interesting topics from "The Sexual Embrace and Its Forms" to "The Future Possibilities of Love." Informed, witty, reverent, lyrical, earthy… this volume ranks among the finest of its genre. The author, Paolo Mantegazza, was a well-known Italian physiologist, anthropologist, and neurologist. His other works include Physiology of Women and Physiology of Love. His masterpiece, however, is a 1,200 page volume that contains his most intellectual and sophisticated thoughts, titled Pictures of Human Nature, Feasts and Inebriations.

Seldom, if ever in the 1960s, has any book presented more beautifully and completely the variety of techniques available to men and women who wish to break down the barriers of sexual inhibition. In detailed informative text and 197 dramatic photographs (black and white and color), the author, Robert L. Harkel discusses such topics as, "The Building of Sexual Power," "Sexual Stimulation," "Building Feminine Passion," "Male Capacity," and "Positions and Movement." The Picture Book of Sexual Love is handsomely produced vintage sex advice book and a definitive work on the subject. Robert L. Harkel has also written other books regarding sex, including The Picture Book of Oral Love (Techniques, Fulfillments, Mystiques).