In the 1891 advertisement for Kissing, they write:
“This book, among hundreds of other things, tells all about the origin of kissing ; gives the grammar of kissing; the scientific reason why kisses are pleasant ; how to kiss and how to receive a kiss; the secret significance of kisses; all about lips, “the sweet petitioners for kisses; an Irish kissing festival; the kissing customs of different countries all over the world, when you may kiss with impunity; famous kisses the different kinds of kisses: how college girls kiss; stolen kisses, sometimes called “dainty bits of plunder;” curious bargains for kisses: excuses for kissing; kissing experiences; the important consequences connected with kissing; humorous stories of kissing in tunnels; men kissing each other in France, in England, and in Germany; origin of the custom of kissing the Pope’s toe; Henry IV, and his punishment; kissing the feet of royalty, an ancient custom; kisses as rewards of genius; the part osculation has paid in politics; curious bar gains for kisses; what legally constitutes a kiss; & kiss at auction; giving $50 to kiss Edwin Booth; 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; Dominie Brown’s first kiss; the kiss of the Spanish girl, the nurse, the mother: & curious German custom; Arrahna-Pogue; refusing the sacrament on account of a kiss; how a child’s kissing affects the course of a desperate man; what a little mare’s kiss did; brought to life by a kiss; the kiss of death. An exceedingly interesting book; a nice little present for a lady. Price 25 Cents. For sale by booksellers; or sent postpaid on receipt of price. “
Osculation 1. the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof). 2. (mathematics) a contact of two curves (or two surfaces) at which they have a common tangent
George Manson, Kissing: the art of osculation, curiously, historically, humorously, and poetically considered (Brooklyn, NY: Union Book, 1888). Graphic Arts Collection 2020- in process
The illustrated wrapper by Arthur T. Lumley (1837-1912), https://beckercollection.bc.edu/arthur-lumley