6 h 44 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 44 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What makes purity an ideal—and why does desire so often stand beside it?
Anthologica Rarissima: The Way of a Virgin, compiled by L. C. Brovan, gathers writing around the figure of the virgin. Purity, myth and sexuality meet in a collection that invites comparison rather than a single continuous argument. At its heart is a question: why do cultures give purity such weight?
The collection explores purity as a cultural idea, the power of the virgin in myth, and the pull between desire and restraint. Goddesses and priestesses stand alongside ideals of chastity. Reading each piece in its own time leaves room to ask whether it praises an ideal, teases it or calls it into question.
What you’ll discover
- Purity beyond the person Consider how cultures shape an ideal that reaches beyond any one person's body.
- The virgin in myth Meet goddesses and priestesses associated with independence, protection and sacred power in ancient religious traditions.
- The pull of desire Explore the tension between what people want and what their ideals forbid.
- Each piece in context Ask how a text's period changes the meaning of its praise, teasing or criticism.
- Room to compare Dip among pieces and consider how different attitudes gather around the same charged figure.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who enjoy folklore, the history of ideas about sex and marriage, old story collections from many countries, and the culture of rare-book collecting.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A private society gathers rare and curious books
- Virginity is a belief, not a measurable fact
- Customs around the world value virginity very differently
- Virginity is prized as property while chastity is policed
- Russian tales treat the male body as something to buy
- Casanova describes seduction as a craft
- Italian novelle give clever women and sly priests
- French tales find humour in sexual ignorance
- The Arabian Nights and the debate over female desire
- Old tests of virginity and a Latin dialogue
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Anthologica Rarissima : La Voie d’une vierge
Folk tales, Casanova and Boccaccio circle one question in this 1922 anthology: what is virginity worth?
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In short
Folk tales, Casanova and Boccaccio circle one question in this 1922 anthology: what is virginity worth? Imagine a small club of book collectors in London after the First World War, passing around numbered copies of a volume never meant for the open shelf.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A private society gathers rare and curious books
The book belongs to a small, closed world. It was issued in London in 1922 by the Brovan Society, and each copy carries its own number. The society promised never to reprint it. Its members were book lovers, students of folklore and collectors of writing that publishers kept off public shelves.
The editors say every country has lively old books that most readers never see, because they are frank about sex. Some have never been put into English. They promise a text that keeps nothing back, and they argue that a classic with its parts cut away is spoiled.
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Cite this edition
Anthologica Rarissima: The Way of a Virgin. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/anthologica-rarissima-the-way-of-a-virgin.
Anthologica rarissima: The way of a virgin. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/anthologica-rarissima-the-way-of-a-virgin
Anthologica Rarissima: The Way of a Virgin. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/anthologica-rarissima-the-way-of-a-virgin.
@book{anonymous2026anthologica,
title = {Anthologica Rarissima: The Way of a Virgin},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/anthologica-rarissima-the-way-of-a-virgin}
}
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What is The Way of a Virgin about?
It is an anthology about virginity in folk tales, short stories and memoirs. An opening essay discusses how different peoples have valued it, and then more than thirty tales and extracts follow, each with a note on sources and parallels.
Who compiled Anthologica Rarissima and when?
The editors L. and C. Brovan compiled it for the Brovan Society of London. It was printed in 1922 in a private run of two hundred and fifty numbered copies, with twenty-five more for the editors, as the first of a planned series.
Which authors and sources does the book draw on?
It draws on Russian and Breton folk tales from Kruptadia, Boccaccio, Masuccio, Casanova's memoirs, the Hundred New Tales, Béroalde de Verville, the Arabian Nights, Chorier's Latin dialogues and old English ballads, with essays quoting Havelock Ellis.
The author
L. C. Brovan
L. C. Brovan is the name attached to Anthologica Rarissima, a collection true to its title: an anthology of rare, curious, and seldom-reprinted pieces assembled for readers who like their literature off the beaten path.
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