Banned Georgian sex manual makes 30 times estimate

The snappily-named tome offers advice on all aspects of sex

A 300-year-old sex manual once banned for its shocking content has sold for £3,100 - 30 times its estimate.

The 1720 book - Aristotle's Masterpiece Completed In Two Parts, The First Containing the Secrets of Generation - contains a range of bizarre advice..

Bids came from across the world but the winner was in the saleroom at Hansons auction house in Derbyshire.

The new owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were drawn to the tome's focus on "pre-modern medicine".

Its guide price was £80-£120.

Gettin' Georgian with it

According to the book's author, a child was born in 1512 with feathers and a single clawed leg.

Some of the more peculiar tips within the manual's pages include::

• Don't lie with beasts - lest you wish to run the risk of giving birth to monsters

• During sex women should "earnestly look upon the man and fix her mind upon him". Then the child will resemble its father

• Want a girl? After sex, a prospective mother should lie on her left. For a boy, she should lie on her right.

• Don't rush off - "When they have done what nature can require, a man must have a care he does not part too soon from the embraces of his wife".

Auctioneer Jim Spencer said: "It's gone crazy. The impact of the sale of this book has been phenomenal.

"I started receiving emails every few minutes from people interested in buying the book, including sex therapists."

The new owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I wanted to buy this book because it's about pre-modern medicine and it's European.

"It's about herbalism and the natural world mixed with medicine. It's also a piece of art featuring woodcut illustrations."

The book talks of man being "the wonder of the world, to whom all things are subordinate".

This edition of the book was published in 1720 but was "as good as banned" until the 1960s