Love And Romance: Facts, Figures & Fun

A great gift for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, engagements, weddings,…What is this thing called Love? An amusing but erudite look at the world of love and romance; what these words mean; engagement and marriage customs and practices, historical snippets, aphrodisiacs, gods and goddesses of love, romantic artists and authors. Ambrose Bierce, in his The Devil’s Dictionary (1906), wrote: Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. The disease, like caries, is prevalent only among civilised races living under artificial conditions. In 1564 the government of Naples tried to outlaw kissing as a repulsive practice. Kissing in public could incur a hefty prison sentence, up to life, while public kissing within sight of an authority figure could bring the death penalty. At least three St. Valentines have been acknowledged by the Catholic Church. Two were said to have been martyred in Rome during the reign of Claudius II, The Goth, around the year 269. One was supposed to have been a priest in Rome, the other the Bishop of Turin. A third martyred St. Valentine was said to have been a bishop in North Africa. The most powerful symptom of love is a tenderness which becomes at times almost unbearable Victor Hugo.