"The Perfumed Garden has been described as a penegyric of love, a song of sensual delights, a collection of joyous imaginings, a work of rare and curious erotic knowledge, a contribution to anthropological and ethnological research." Originally issued in 1886 for private subscribers, this edition includes an introduction by Alan Hull Walton "detailing the history of the work, its extensive bibliography, its background, and its sociological importance."