History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present: Moral and Physical Reasons for Its Performance, with a History of Eunuchism, Hermaphrodism, Etc., and of the Different Operations Practiced upon the Prepuce

A remarkable artifact of Victorian medical culture, this 1891 survey traces circumcision from ancient Egypt through Hebrew, Greek, and eventually modern Western practice. Written by physician P.C. Remondino for the Southern California Medical Society, it reflects an era when doctors believed surgical intervention could cure everything from masturbation to moral degeneracy. The book reveals how late Victorians projected their anxieties about hygiene, sexuality, and civilization onto the foreskin, making this far more than a medical text. It is a window into how the body became a site of moral and scientific management. Remondino also addresses eunuchism and hermaphroditism within this framework, documenting how his era understood and pathologized bodily difference. The work endures as a fascinating case study in medical history, showing how practices now considered routine were once contested terrain where science, religion, and social anxiety collided. For readers curious about the origins of contemporary bodily norms or the strange evolution of medical orthodoxies, this book offers an unflinching look at a vanished worldview.