THE ART

OF THE

KISS

7

At seven!! a sly kiss is so sweet,

To steal one now and then’s a treat.

17

At seventeen!! it’s nicer still,

And there’s a way where there’s a will.

70

At seventy!! it’s just the same,

We still keep up the age old game.

DEDICATED TO ALL WHO LOVE.

Curiously, Historically,

Humorously, Poetically Considered.

(COPYWRIGHT, 902, BY WILL ROSSITER of YORK)

(PRINTED BY THE AUD SCRIPTORIUM, LADE, NORWAY)

.

PART I: ORIGIN & HISTORY OF KISSING

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ORIGIN OF KISSING

THE SCANDINAVIAN TRADITION

KISSING IN ANCIENT ROME

AMONG THE JEWS AND EARLY CHRISTIANS

BIBLICAL KISSING—RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE

AN OLD POET’S IDEA

KISSING IN EARLY ANGLELAND

ANCIENT KISSING

CUSTOMS AS DESCRIBED BY ERASMUS

HOW ADAM KISSED EVE

A KISS DEFINED: BY THE ANGLO-SAXON DICTIONARY

COMICAL AND SHORT DESCRIPTIONS

A GRAMMAR OF KISSING

THE SCIENTIFIC REASON WHY KISSES ARE PLEASANT

.

PART II:  HOW TO KISS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HOW TO KISS – THE ACT FULLY DESCRIBED

SIZE OF THE MOUTH TO BE CONSIDERED

THE GIRL WHO CLAWS AND STRUGGLES

POETICAL DIRECTIONS

DANGERS OF HUGGING

TAPPING THE LIPS OF A LATIN

KISSING A CATHAYAN GIRL

HOW TO RECEIVE A KISS

LONG-REMEMBERED KISSES

THE KISS IN BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE

.

PART III:  THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KISSES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KISSES

THE KISSING OF HANDS IN RELIGIOUS CEREMONY AND SOCIAL LIFE

IN ANCIENT ROME, SPAIN AND THE AUSTR-GOTH PLAIN

AN INDIGNANT CARDINAL

A KISS WITHIN THE CUP

SOMETHING ABOUT LIPS

THE SWEET PETITIONERS FOR KISSES

DANCING AND KISSING

AN IRISH KISSING FESTIVAL

SPARKING KISSING PARTIES

KISSING UNDER THE MISTLETOE

NEW YEAR’S KISSING IN OLD YORK

A WESTERN EUROPE KISSING BEE

.

PART IV:  KISSING IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

KISSING IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES:

IN ARABIA, EGYPT, RUS’SIA, FINLAND, ICELAND

A PLEASING BUT PERPLEXING NORWEGIAN CUSTOM

THE “BLUE LAWS” OF LONDON TOWN

MONEY VALUE OF A STOLEN KISS

SANITARY DANGERS OF KISSING

KISSING THE DYING

FAMOUS KISSES

KISSING THE FEET OF BEGGARS

.

PART V:  DIFFERENT KINDS OF KISSES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DIFFERENT KINDS OF KISSES: THE FRENCH KISS, THE LONG KISS

THE VACUUM KISS, THE ICY KISS, THE WESSEX KISS

HOW SMART GIRLS KISS, THE KISS OF A FEMALE CORNETIST

PLATONIC KISSES, ROMAN OSCULATION, CHARACTERISTICS OF KISSES

THE KISS AS A PUNISHMENT—THE KING OF BABY-KISSERS—

THE KISS AFTER MARRIAGE—

STOLEN KISSES  –  SOMETIMES CALLED “DAINTY BITS OF PLUNDER”

THE STORY OF A CIRCASSIAN GIRL

AUD NOTES: HOW TO KISS INCLUDING ‘THE FRENCH KISS’

AUD NOTES: THE KAMA SUTRA’S  ‘ON KISSING’

.

PART VI:  ODDITIES OF KISSING

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MEN KISSING EACH OTHER IN FRANKIA, ANGLELAND AND GERMANY

ORIGIN OF THE CUSTOM OF KISSING THE POPE’S TOE

HENRY AND HIS PUNISHMENT, KISSING THE FEET OF ROYALTY

AN ANCIENT CUSTOM, KISSES AS REWARDS OF GENIUS

.

PART VII:  EXCUSES FOR KISSING, OR NOT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXCUSES FOR KISSING; HOW ALL NATURE JUSTIFIES THE PRACTICE

THE CHILDISH AND THE HUMOROUS EXCUSE, KISSING CASUISTRY

THE GLUTTONY OF KISSING, UNACCOUNTABLE OSCULATORY DEMANDS

EXCUSES FOR NOT KISSING, KISSING EXPERIENCES

DOMINIE OF BROWN’S FIRST KISS, THE KISS OF THE SPANISH GIRL

THE NURSE, THE MOTHER, A CURIOUS GERMAN CUSTOM

.

PART VIII:  CONSEQUENCES OF KISSING

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCES CONNECTED WITH KISSING

REFUSING THE SACRAMENT ON ACCOUNT OF A KISS

HOW A CHILD’S KISS AFFECTED THE COURSE OF A DESPERATE MAN