In this study of Bernard Mandeville's A Modest Defence of Publick Stews , Irwin Primer breaks new ground by arguing that in addition to being an advocation for the establishment of state-regulated houses of prostitution, Mandeville's writing is also a highly polished work of literature.

"With the publication of his splendid new edition (and study) of Mandeville's notorious A Modest Defence of Publick Stews, the charming and erudite Primer makes a statement about the hidden core of eighteenth-century studies. With a surgical precision and a surgical wit befitting the puckish physician from Leyden, Primer thoroughly reviews Mandeville's contexts, sources, and ideas while also explaining the dark ambiguities and light wit that shimmer throughout this strangely direct, alarmingly commonsensical work. Primer's lovingly prepared text should easily become a standard scholarly edition." - Kevin L. Cope, Louisiana State University

"Irwin Primer's book provides more than welcome annotated texts of A Modest Defence of Publick Stews (both editions of 1724). It is valuable also for the inclusion of other relevant Eighteenth Century texts and especially for Primer's introduction and commentaries on literary, economic, and social aspects of its subject." - Maurice Goldsmith, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Autorentext
IRWIN PRIMER is Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University, USA.

Inhalt
Acknowledgements Editor's Introduction PART I: TEXTS Mandeville's Fable of the Bees , Remark (H.), (1714) Fable of the Bees , from Remark (N.) (added, 1723) A Modest Defence of Publick Stews (1724B edition) The 'Answer' (from A Modest Defence ..., 1725) From A Collection of Chirurgical Tracts (1740) Regulated Stews, Recommended (1): An anonymous article from The Gentlemen's Magazine , col. 19 (July 1749), pp. 314-15 Regulated Stews, Recommended (2): Anonymous [from] Reflections Arising from the Immorality of the Present Age ...(London, Printed for M. Cooper...1756) PART II: COMMENTARIES Audience Anonymity and the Question of Authorship Early Critics of A Modest Defence Some Twentieth-Century Views on A Modest Defence Some Modern Translations Prostitution: The Modern Debate Mandeville's Language of Sexuality The "Low" in Society and Literature Economic Aspects of A Modest Defence Marriage Contexts of the Law A Note on the Apologia pro Lena by George Buchanan PART III: TEXT OF THE FIRST EDITION, 1724A Bibliography Index