Current reading of this book from 1873 provides us with a reminder to keep on seeing things afresh, to keep on learning and to keep on reinterpreting. Abbi Parcell, a PhD candidate, has been reading this book recently, in light of queering the Portico collection, seeking insight and understanding that might seem rather modern to us today, but elements of which were apparent to writers and thinkers over a century ago.

Symonds was writing a rather “courageous exploration of sexuality … and has left an indelible mark on world of queer scholarship and cultural paradigms” Parcell writes.