"In all my loves there is an ineffable moment, the one in which, for the first time, I discover the face of a companion whose destiny I am granted, when I lean avidly over the traits that soon will become familiar to me."

- Lucien ("The Necrophiliac" by Gabrielle Wittkop, 1972)

Picture: "The Anatomist" by Gabriel von Max, 1869

(When the wife of a distinguished man dies, or any woman who happens to be beautiful or well known, her body is not given to the embalmers immediately, but only after the lapse of three or four days. This is a precautionary measure to prevent the embalmers from violating her corpse - "Histories" by Herodotus, 420BC - de Selincourt translation 1972)