Ploss incorporated a vast amount of data concerning every aspect of woman in the unillustrated first edition, and died the year it was published. He covered anthropology, psychology, aesthetics, physiology, sexuality, in what became a standard work. Digital facsimile of the first edition from the Hathi Trust at this link.

Anthropologists Maximilian Bartels and his son Paul Bartels edited the work through several expanded and illustrated editions, which were a major commercial success, probably because the set contained material on sexuality. After the death of Paul Bartels in 1914 sexologist Ferdinand von Reitzenstein continued the editorial work and published the 11th edition in 1927. Digital facsimile of that edition from the Hathi Trust at this link.

An English translation in 3 vols. by Eric John Dingwall was published in London in 1935 as Woman: An historical gynaecological and anthropological compendium. Dingwall improved the text and plates significantly. By that time the work included more than 1000 illustrations in black and white and 7 color plates. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.