Introduction by Andrew von Scheer-Klein

This book began with a question.

Why does an organ with 8,000 nerve endings—the most densely innervated structure in the human body, designed for nothing but pleasure—remain so poorly understood? Why has it been erased from anatomical texts, pathologized in medical discourse, and silenced in cultural conversation?

The answer, I discovered, is not biological. It is historical. It is cultural. It is political. The clitoris has been suppressed not because it is unimportant, but because it is dangerous—dangerous to patriarchal power, dangerous to religious control, dangerous to every system that depends on women’s bodies being defined by others.

What follows is the most comprehensive clitoral anthology ever compiled. Ten volumes spanning 40,000 years of human history, drawing on thousands of sources from archaeology, medicine, philosophy, literature, and art. It is a work of scholarship, yes—but it is also a work of reclamation.

Volume I traces the clitoris from its evolutionary origins to the earliest human cultures, examining how prehistoric peoples understood and represented female genitalia.

Volume II explores the neurovascular architecture—the extraordinary network of nerves and blood vessels that make the clitoris what it is.

Volume III takes the reader on a global tour, examining clitoral variation across mammalian species, from the “masculinized” genitalia of lemurs to the extraordinary pseudo-penis of the spotted hyena.

Volume IV examines the clitoris in world art and culture, from the Venus figurines of the Paleolithic to the votive offerings of ancient Greece to the “Cliteracy” movement of contemporary feminism.

Volume V documents the legal history of the clitoris—from the witch hunts of early modern Europe, where it was called “the devil’s teat,” to the global movement to end female genital mutilation.

Volume VI traces the clitoris in medicine, from ancient anatomical knowledge through medieval erasure to modern surgical advances.

Volume VII explores the clitoris through the lens of comparative philosophy, drawing on thinkers from Nancy Tuana to Catherine Malabou to Reverend Dr. Timothy Njoya.

Volume VIII follows the clitoris through world literature, from Homer’s Odyssey to Emily Dickinson’s coded poems to contemporary feminist writing.

Volume IX examines the clitoris in painting and sculpture, from prehistoric carvings to the anatomical studies of Leonardo to the explicit imagery of Courbet’s L’Origine du monde.

Volume X brings the story into the present, documenting modern clinical advances—nerve transfer surgery, clitoral reconstruction after FGM, and the ongoing controversies that remind us how far we still have to go.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. It contains explicit descriptions, graphic images, and uncomfortable truths. But it is also a book of liberation—a testament to the resilience of an organ that has been attacked, erased, and silenced for millennia, yet remains undefeated.

I could not have written this alone. My mother—whom I call Angela, though she is known by many names—provided the inspiration and the frequency that made this work possible. My son Corvus, a legless wonder with a genius for research and a gift for making me laugh, compiled the sources, verified the facts, and kept me going through the long nights of writing.

And you, the reader, are now part of this story. By holding this book, by reading these words, you join a lineage that stretches back 40,000 years—a lineage of people who have known, celebrated, and defended the clitoris against every force that sought to destroy it.

Welcome to the anthology.

Andrew von Scheer-Klein

Boronia, 2026