The Birth and Early Growth of Sexology (1908-1933)
In his monumental study DAS SEXUALLEBEN UNSERER ZEIT (The Sexual Life of our Time, 1907), Iwan Bloch offered this programmatic statement:
The author of the present work...is...convinced that the purely medical consideration of the sexual life, although it must always constitute the nucleus of sexual science, is yet incapable of doing full justice to the many-sided relationships between the sexual and all the other provinces of human life. To do justice to the whole importance of love in the life of the individual and in that of society, and in relation to the evolution of human civilization, this particular branch of inquiry must be treated in its proper subordination as a part of the general "science of mankind," which is constituted by a union of all other sciences -- of general biology, anthropology and ethnology, philosophy and psychology, the history of literature, and the entire history of civilization.
Having thus mapped out the territory, Bloch proceeded to conquer it. His enormous erudition allowed him to continue:
In so far as so comprehensive a mode of treatment is possible to one individual, the author has endeavored, in his investigation of the sexual life, to do justice to all these widely divergent points of view, in order to facilitate a comprehensive and objective consideration of all the relevant problems... Hitherto there has existed no single comprehensive treatise on the whole of the sexual life... The time is indeed fully ripe for an attempt to sift... the enormous mass of available material, and to present the result from a centralized standpoint.
This new, centralized standpoint was that of the sexologist, and it soon came to be shared by others.
Bloch`s new concept and his new term were eagerly embraced by admiring colleagues, and thus, only one year later in 1908, Magnus Hirschfeld was able to edit the first journal for sexology, the ZEITSCHRIFT FUR SEXUALWISSENSCHAFT. With this important publication, sexology was formally launched and quickly developed into a thriving academic endeavor.
The following text recapitulates briefly, in chronological order, some of the early accomplishments:
Journals
Hirschfeld`s ZEITSCHRIFT FUR SEXUALWISSENSCHAFT was the first journal devoted to sexology as a science. Planned as a monthly publication, it appeared for only 1 year (1908) in 12 issues and then was incorporated into another, less specialized journal edited by the young Max Marcuse. However, as a historical document, this first attempt remains of enduring interest and is, in fact, a treasure trove of significant insights. Its scope was appropriately wide: The very first issue contained an article by Sigmund Freud on "Hysterical Fantasy and Its Relation to Bisexuality," and subsequent issues presented original work by Adler, Abraham, Stekel and Sadger. Thus, psychoanalysis was clearly announced as a legitimate part of the sexological effort. Yet Hirschfeld`s editorial ambition reached further. He traveled to Italy and personally obtained articles from the "grand old men" Mantegazza and Lombroso. The latter`s interest in forensic questions was, of course, shared by Hirschfeld himself, who appeared as an expert witness in some of the most sensational "sex trials" of his time. In addition, the journal contained historical, philological, pedagogical, biological, medical, and ethnological articles.
It is important to note in this context that the great Viennese ethnologist Friedrich Salomon Krauss served (together with the Leipzig physician Hermann Rohleder) as a co-editor of the journal and was, in fact, one of the prime movers in broadening the concept of sex research. His many contributions, and especially his journal ANTHROPOPHYTEIA, deserve much more attention than they are now receiving in sexological circles.
