A collection of essays on homosexuality, including attempts to define the characteristics of gay and lesbian people as well as ideas on how they can best benefit society.

Carpenter is one of the first English authors to write extensively about homosexuality, laying the groundwork for gay identity in the Anglosphere. This collection of essays explores the thinking of the time and spends considerable effort to debunk harmful misconceptions about gay people.

This is a great entrypoint into the research being done at the time, much of which was coming from continental Europe. Carpenter includes many references to other writers and researchers of his contemporary, along with an index containing full quotes from the works referenced.