"Inseparables": Tobacco Workers in Seville and Female Homoeroticism at the End of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

H a v e l o c k e l l i s ’ s S e x u a l I n v e r S I o n , published for the first time in German in 1896 and later reissued in English in 1897, 1901, and 1915, was one of the most renowned and cited monographic discussions on sexuality of its time.1 The volume’s focus on homosexuality in general and female homoeroticism in particular captured the attention of the scientific and lay public in equal measure.2 Despite the fact that Ellis was accused of basing his analysis of lesbianism on very few actual cases—presented as part of the section on female sexual inversion—what is certain is that in successive editions of the work, Ellis added extensively to his repertoire. In this sense, he followed the tradition of German authors such as Krafft-Ebing who constantly augmented the number of case studies on a range of subjects germane to their books. In the 1901 English edition, Ellis described,