History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present by P. C. Remondino is a wide-ranging nineteenth-century study tracing the practice of circumcision across cultures and eras. Remondino, an American physician, surveys its presence among ancient and modern peoples, examining religious, ritual, and supposed medical justifications for the custom.
Reflecting the medical theories and cultural assumptions of its time, the book combines historical anecdote with the author’s advocacy of circumcision on hygienic grounds, views that modern medicine treats with considerable caution. As a document, it illuminates late-Victorian attitudes toward the body, health, and the authority of physicians. Read as a historical artefact rather than a medical guide, Remondino’s work offers insight into the intersection of medicine, religion, and culture in his era.