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The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio, Giovanni Boccaccio, trans. Richard Aldington, illustrated by Rockwell Kent (Garden City Books, Garden City, NY, 1949 [date of illustrations]) 9 1/2" X 6 3/8", 562pp, hardbound with DJ (with some rips) protected by mylar, green boards with cream spine, great condition. This is the popular (at the time) Garden City edition. Superb art deco color illustrations throughout by Rockwell Kent (famous illustrator of Moby Dick and others). The Decameron, (subtitled Prencipe Galeotto or Prince Galehaut), is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. To make their exile more pleasant each of the ten tells the others one story every day. The Decameron records the narratives of ten days -- 100 stories. Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. These tales run the entire range of human emotion: grief, love, humor, anger, revenge. Many are based on oral folklore. Boccaccio's ten narrators thus retell already familiar stories about errant priests, rascally husbands, and mischievous wives. Variants of these stories are known in many cultures, but no one formulates them more cleverly or relates them more eloquently than does Boccaccio. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence, it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. -
That's My Pop, (np. nd.) 4.5" x 3", 8pp.+2 pages describing sexual positions, pamphlet, stapled Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, bluesies, gray-backs, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, Tillie-and-Mac books, and two-by-fours) were little pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s. -
Gamiani, ou deux nuits d'excés par Alcide, Baron de M***, anonymous [believed to have been written by Alfred de Musset] (G. Lebaucher, Libraire-Éditeur, Montreal, Canada [likely Gaucher, Malakoff, France] nd.) 4.5"x6", 144pp, half morocco over marbled boards, title in gilt on spine, 4 raised bands, boards cracked but holding, just good condition Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess is a French erotic novel first published in 1833. Its authorship is anonymous, but it is believed to have been written by Alfred de Musset and the lesbian eponymous heroine a portrait of his lover, George Sand. It became a bestseller among nineteenth century erotic literature. Modeled after George Sand, this work gives us a young man named Alcide observing the Countess Gamiani and a young girl named Fanny, engaged in their lesbian bed. Having watched them and provoked by their abandonment, he reveals himself, joins them, and they spend the night alternately sharing their intimate histories and their bodies. The stories they tell include the rape of one in a monastery and the nearly fatal debauchment of another in a convent, as well as encounters with a number of animals, including an ape and a donkey. Elias Gaucher (publisher from 1898 until 1925(?)) was a Clandestine editor who mainly used the pseudonym G. Lebaucher, Libraire-Éditeur, Montreal (Canada), but also Maison Mystère, Imprimerie Galante, etc. This publisher published many erotic underground works in English from 1898 to about 1904 with the mentions "Printed for the Erotica Biblion Society of London and New York", he also published erotic texts in French from 1899. His printing press was actually located at 11 rue Danicourt in Malakoff, France. Gaucher left his works in deposit with booksellers-distributors [...] Most editions of Gaucher are counterfeit editions of Brancart or Hirsch, and Gaucher often republished his own works. -
Aphrodite, done into English from the French of Pierre Louys, by Pierre Louÿs, illus. unknown, (Privately Printed for Subscribers Only[Mitchell S. Buck], 1913, #66/550) 6.5"x8.75", xi+258pp+Notes+Index, cream vellum spine over green boards, gilt titles on spine, good condition, some bumping and rubbing Buck's translation is easier to read than Carrington's translation a few years earlier. This was his first book, most likely, self-published and printed by Nicholas L. Brown. Pierre Louys (1870 - 1925) was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who "expressed pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection." "Aphrodite: mæurs antiques" (Ancient Manners) is a "libertine" story set in ancient Alexandria. Highlights include the loves of Chrysis, an orgy banquet ending in the crucifixion of a slave, the love of two young musician girls and the festivals of Aphrodite." Mitchell Starrett Buck (February 10, 1887 – May 12, 1959) was an American poet, translator and classical scholar. His volumes of verse and prose poetry were deeply influenced by 1890s aestheticism as well as classical Greek and Roman Literature. Buck’s writing was secondary to his work as a heating engineer, and the money he made professionally allowed him to become a noted book-collector, specializing in first editions, English literature, Greek and Latin classics. Buck’s first book was a translation of Aphrodite by the French decadent Pierre Louÿs (1870-1925). It appeared in 1913, and was “privately printed”, probably at Buck’s expense. It may have been arranged through the Philadelphia bookseller Nicholas L. Brown, who officially became a publisher in 1916, and thereafter issued most of Buck’s output. Between 1916 and 1932, Brown published small editions of poetry, belles lettres, translations, sometimes without his imprint but stating that the title has been “issued privately for subscribers” (in order to evade prosecution for dealing in obscene materials). Such classical erotica is very tame by modern standards, but in the teens and twenties such material was policed by self-appointed authorities such as John S. Sumner of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. -
Venus in Furs, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, trans. Fernanda Savage (Privately Printed For Subscirbers Only. 1921, [first english translation?] limited first edition thus, #400/1225) Venus in Furs (German: Venus im Pelz) is a novella by Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895), an Austrian writer and journalist. It is now his best known work and because of its themes the term masochism is derived from his name, coined by the Austrian psychiatrist, Krafft-Ebing. The novel was to be part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series. It was published in 1870. The novel draws themes, like female dominance and sadomasochism, and character inspiration heavily from Sacher-Masoch's own life. Wanda von Dunajew, the novel's central female character, was modelled after his mistress Baroness Fanny Pistor. In December 1869 the two signed a contract making him her slave for a period of 6 months. In 1873, after the publication of Venus in Furs, Sacher-Masoch married Aurora von Rümelin who he pressured to continue the lifestyle he wrote about in his book. After 10 years they divorced. Rümelin, using the pseudonym of the books title character, "Wanda von Dunajew", wrote Meine Lebensbeichte (My Life Confession) published in 1906. It detailed Sacher-Masoch's private life and her relationship with him. During his lifetime, Sacher-Masoch was well known as a man of letters, a utopian thinker who espoused socialist and humanist ideals in his fiction and non-fiction. Most of his works remain untranslated into English. Until recently, his novel Venus in Furs was his only book commonly available in English. -
Poesias: eroticas, burlescas e satyricas, Bocage (Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage) (np, London, 1926, #443/1000 machine numbered) 6" X 8", 220pp, in Portuguese, hardcover, quarter bound red leather over red pebbled boards, gilt titles and decorations on spine, four raised bands, laid paper, top-edge inked, marbled end papers, ribbon present, a handsome quarter-leather bound copy of a clandestinely published edition of Bocage's unpublishable works. (most copies of this edition are softbound). Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage (1765-1805) was a Portuguese Neoclassic poet, writing at the beginning of his career under the pen name Elmano Sadino. He aspired to be a second Camões. He was born, the son of a lawyer, in Setúbal, Portugal. He is said to to have made verses in infancy, and being somewhat of a prodigy grew up to be flattered, self-conscious and unstable. He left home at age 14 to join the army then transfered to the navy at age 16. While in the military he devoted most of his energies to love affairs, poetry, and bohemianism. Eventually, like his hero Camões, he was sent to India and became disillusioned by the Orient. He deserted to Macau, returning to Lisbon in 1790. He then joined the New Arcadia, a literary society with vaguely egalitarian and libertarian sympathies, but his satires on his fellow members resulted in his expulsion. In 1797 he was accused of propagating republicanism and atheism and was imprisoned. During his imprisonment he undertook translations of Virgil and Ovid. Translations provided him with a livelihood during the few years that he lived after his release. Despite the Neoclassical framework of his poetry, his intensely personal accent, frequent violence of expression, and self-dramatizing obsession with fate and death anticipate Romanticism. The subversiveness of his poems has meant that for much of the last 200 years they have not been (officially) available in Portugal. -
The Love Books of Ovid, A Completely Unexpurgated and Newly Translated Edition by Charles D. Young | Together with the Elegie, Translated by Christopher Marlowe | Illustrated by Alexander King "This book, designed by T. Spencer Hutson, was printed at the Alexander Hamilton Press, in March 1930. Illustrations are reproduced by the Knudson process. This edition consists of Two Thousand numbered copies printed on Strathmore MELDON deckle edge laid paper. This copy is No. 361" (Privately Published for Subscribers, Art Studio Books, Inc., 1930, #361/2000) 6.25"x9.5", iii+302pp, 3/4 black cloth over marbled boards, gilt text and decorations on spine, gilt borders on covers, marbled pastdowns, top edge gilt, other edges deckled, frontispiece and 16 full-page illustrations with descriptive tissue guards, other illustrations and titles in orange within text, near fine copy, slight rubbing at top and bottom of spine. This is a beautiful edition of 5 of his works, Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love"), Remedia Amoris ("The Cure for Love"), Amores ("The Loves"), Medicamina Faciei ("dye on the face"), and his Elegies Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC – AD 17/18), known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists. He enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, was sent by Augustus into exile in a remote province on the Black Sea, where he remained until his death. Ovid himself attributes his exile to carmen et error, "a poem and a mistake", but his discretion in discussing the causes has resulted in much speculation among scholars. The first major Roman poet to begin his career during the reign of Augustus, Ovid is today best known for the Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative written in the meter of epic, and for works in elegiac couplets such as Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love") and Fasti. His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology. Alexander King (1899–1965), born Alexander Koenig in Vienna, was a bestselling humorist, memoirist and media personality of the early television era, based in the United States. In his late fifties, after becoming a frequent guest on the a Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar, King emerged as an incongruous presence in the realm of national celebrity: an aging, irascible raconteur, with elegant mannerisms and trademark bow-tie, who spoke frankly and disarmingly about his bohemian lifestyle, multiple marriages, and years-long struggle with drug addiction. His checkered past led TIME magazine to describe him as "an ex-illustrator, ex-cartoonist, ex-adman, ex-editor, ex-playwright, ex-dope addict. For a quarter-century he was an ex-painter, and by his own bizarre account qualifies as an ex-midwife. He is also an ex-husband to three wives and an ex-Viennese of sufficient age (60) to remember muttonchopped Emperor Franz Joseph. When doctors told him a few years ago that he might soon be an ex-patient (two strokes, serious kidney disease, peptic ulcer, high blood pressure), he sat down to tell gay stories of the life of all these earlier Kings."
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<strong>The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana | Translated from the Sanscrit by The Hindoo Kama Shastra Society | Complete in seven parts with Preface, Introduction, and Concluding Remarks | Illustrated</strong>, by Vatsyayana (Printed for the Society of the Friends of India 1883-1925, Benares-New York, one of 800, unnumbered) <em>6"x9", xxi+175pp, hardbound, blue boards, hand laid paper, top-edge gilt, others deckled, 8 B/W half-tone reproductions of erotic Hindu stone-sculptures with tissue guards, soiling on boards, inner pages are clean, binding is good.</em> Attributed to ancient Indian philosopher Vatsyayana, the Kama Sutra is generally believed to have been composed between 400 and 200 B.C.E. Although a portion of the work consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse, the work is primarily prose consisting of 1250 verses distributed over 36 chapters structured into seven parts. This book lists those parts as: Part I. Index, and General Consideration of the Subject Part II. Of Sexual Union Part III. About the Acquisition of a Wife Part IV. About a Wife Part V. About the Wives of Other People Part VI. About Courtezans Part VII. On the Means of Attracting Others to Oneself -
Memoirs of Cardinal Dubois | A complete unabridged translation from the French by Ernest Dowson | Embellished with photogravure portraits of Cardinal Dubois and the Duc d'Orleans, together with twelve full page drawings by Lui Trugo (Privately Printed for Subscribers [Art Studio Press], New York, 1929, #264/1500) 9.75"x6.5", 2 volumes on hand laid paper, xvi-376pp, viii-349pp, black cloth with gilt titles and decorations, top-edge inked, others deckled, good condition bumped corners and a few scuff marks. Two different ex libris Alan K Dolliver bookplates inside front covers of both books. According to the publisher, the original manuscript which was written entirely in Dubois hand was stolen by his secretary Lavergne after his death in 1723. It was later discovered of its literary value that Lavergne attempted to sell the manuscript. He was found and arrested. They later fell into the hands of Comte de Maurepas, then upon his death they were passed on to an anonymous writer named Mercier (possibly M. Paul Laroix) whose family had it published in 1829. The manuscript then became lost. In 1899 and English version of the book translated by Ernest Christopher Dowson, was published by the notorious pornographer, Leonard Smithers & Co. This is, presumably a reprinting of that translation. Guillaume Dubois (1656-1723), a son of a country doctor, rose from humble beginnings to positions of power and high honor in government and in the Catholic Church. He is best known for negotiating the Triple Alliance of 1717 between France, the Dutch Republic and Great Britain against their mutual enemy, Spain. Considered one of the four great French Cardinal-Ministers (Richelieu, Mazarin, Dubois, and Fleury). His ecclesiastical career left a great deal to be desired. Although there is no proof of the prevalent assertion that he got secretly married, his licentiousness, and notorious impiety, even at the time of his death, make it evident that he pursued and used ecclesiastical dignities principally to enhance his political position and prestige. Eventually in 1721, Du Bois was created cardinal. He had the reputation of a libertine and adventurer and made plenty of enemies. One of his rivals was charged at creating his portrait, the Duc de Saint-Simon, who was said to have placed a painting of Dubois in his lavatory. Saint-Simon had this to say about the Cardinal: "He was a little, pitiful, wizened, herring-gutted man, in a flaxen wig, with a weasel's face, brightened by some intellect. All the vices - perfidy, avarice, debauchery, ambition, flattery - fought within him for the mastery. He was so consummate a liar that, when taken in the fact, he could brazenly deny it. Even his wit and knowledge of the world were spoiled, and his affected gaiety was touched with sadness, by the odour of falsehood which escaped through every pore of his body." This famous picture is certainly biased. Dubois was unscrupulous, but so were his contemporaries, and whatever vices he had, he forged a European peace that, with the exception of small, restrained military expeditions against the Austrian Habsburgs, would last for a quarter of a century. -
Napoleon et les Femmes | L 'amour, Frederick Masson, illus. A. Calbet (Librairie Borel, Paris, 1899 "Collection Nymphée") 7.5" X 3.75", 391pp.+, 3/4 blue leather over marbled blue silk-covered boards, 5 raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled end-papers, illustrations throughout This book focuses on the life of women under the Consulate and the Empire. It considers Napoleon’s conception of women, examining his contribution to the drafting of the Civil Code on the question of the place of women in society or the education of young girls. The memoirs and correspondence give an idea of how the women who lived through the Empire perceived this period of reforms, deprivation of freedoms, and also wars.
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Aphrodite, mœurs antiques, by Pierre Louÿs, illus. Eduard Zier (Librairie Illustree, J. Tallandier, Éditeur, nd [c. 1900], Paris, printed by Charles Hérissey, engravings executed by Ruckert et Cie, on Champon, Bichelberger et Cie ) 6.75" x 10", 374pp, hardbound in half buckram over marbled boards, very good condition for age, some bumping to boards and foxing throughout pages, red ribbon intact Pierre Louys (1870 - 1925) was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who "expressed pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection." "Aphrodite: mæurs antiques" (Ancient Manners) is a "libertine" story set in ancient Alexandria. Highlights include the loves of Chrysis, an orgy banquet ending in the crucifixion of a slave, the love of two young musician girls and the festivals of Aphrodite. -
Novellen und Cymbalum Mundi: Die neuen Schwänke und lustigen Unterhaltungen gefolgt von der Weltbimmel (VOL 2 only), by Bonaventure Des Periers. "For the first time translated from French and introduced by Hanns Floerke with 10 illustrations by Franz von Bayros" (Georg Müller, München und Leipzig 1910) 5.25"x7", 404pp, vol 2 of 2, top edge gilt, other edges deckled, 3/4 vellum on green boards, 5 illustrations by Bayros tipped in, ribbon present but detached, good+ condition. German translation of Des Periers short stories and Cymbalum Mundi, Four Very Ancient Joyous and Facetious Dialogues. Bonaventure des Périers (c. 1500 – 1544) was a French storyteller and humanist who attained notoriety as a freethinker. Margaret of Angoulême, queen of Navarre, made him her valet de chambre in 1536. He acted as her secretary and transcribed her Heptaméron; some maintain that he in fact wrote the work. The free discussions permitted at Margaret’s court encouraged a license of thought as displeasing to the Calvinists as to the Roman Catholics; it became skepticism in Des Périers’s Cymbalum Mundi, a brilliant and violent attack upon Christianity. The allegorical form of its four dialogues in imitation of the Greek rhetorician Lucian did not conceal its real meaning. It was suppressed (c. 1538), but it was reprinted in Paris in the same year. His book made many bitter enemies for Des Périers, who prudently left Paris and settled at Lyon. Tradition has it that he killed himself in 1544, but this is questionable. Franz von Bayros (1866–1924) was an Austrian commercial artist, illustrator, and painter, best known for his controversial Tales at the Dressing Table portfolio, a book considered so dangerous to the morality of the time that Von Bayros was arrested and forced into exile. He was obliged to move from one European capital to another as each outrageous new work was banned by the authorities. -
La Courtisane de Memphis, Prosper Castanier, illust. by A. Calbet (Librairie L. Borel, Paris, 1900 "Nymphée Collection") 7.75" X 4", 242pp.+, 1/2 red leather over silk-covered boards, marbled end-papers, gallery of 7 full-page illustrations in red, 5 pages of ads in back, fine condition for age, ribbon intact. In French, The Courtesan of Memphis. Prosper Castanier wrote of the decadence of ancient Rome. This is a beautiful example of a rare book. The French author, poet, novelist and historian Prosper Castanier (1865-19??) was born in Saint-Ambroix (Gard). He was the editor-in-chief of the "Progrès du midi". He had made a specialty of novels set in antiquity. (Particularly after the success of Aphrodite by Pierre Louès, published in 1896) -
Selections from the Poetical Works of A. C. Swinburne, from the latest English edition of his works., A. C. Swinburne, ed. R. H. Stoddard (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New York, 1884 [first edition, thus.]) 7.5" x 5", xxii, 634pp, Hardcover, raised and gilted blue cloth decorated binding. Gilt edges internal pages framed in red lines. Good condition, bumped and worn corners and spine. Binding tight. Signed by previous owner "Ray E. Searls 1900" Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. Considered a decadent poet, although Swinburne perhaps professed to more vice than he actually indulged in; Oscar Wilde stated that Swinburne was "a braggart in matters of vice, who had done everything he could to convince his fellow citizens of his homosexuality and bestiality without being in the slightest degree a homosexual or a bestializer." He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in every year from 1903 to 1907 and again in 1909. -
Galante Lieder und Gedichte, Concordia Ball 25. Jänner 1926 [Galante songs and poems with images after originals by Franz von Bayros selected by Johannes Pilz and Viktor Wögerer, Concordia Ball, January 25, 1926] (Der Presseclub Concordia, Strache, Vienna 1926) 6.5"x4.75", very good condition, boards slightly rubbed and stained, interior fine, with carrying strap intact. Press Club Concordia, an organization of Austrian journalists and writers, has been holding a traditional Viennese ball at the Vienna City Hall each June for over 150 years. In 1926 their program book featured art by Franz von Bayros. The illustrations feature both erotic and musical themes. This is a great piece of European/Austrian interbellum history, a rare find in this condition with the carrying strap still intact. -
Out of stock
Naughty Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales, "Translated from the Old Saxon and Illustrated by Sir Rod Q. M'Gurk, Knight of the Brush (np, nd c. 1975) 8.5"x11", 96pp (unpaginated), soft covers, good condition, some minor bumping to corners, near fine internal pagesI've been able to find a few references to this book and very little about "Sir Rod Q. M'Gurk". He apparently also had his cartoons published in Swank magazine c. 1976-7. Eventually it came to the attention of some illustrators and (with help of former Disney animators) was made into a movie by Don Jurwich (not sure the connection between him and Sir Rod Q. M'Gurk, but I'd love to know if it was him).
Ad from a "men's magazine" featuring the Naughty Fairy Tales
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The Perfumed Garden: A Manual of Arabian Erotology, Sheikh Nefzawi (Editions de la Fontaine d'Or, Paris, 1900 [Imprimerie M. Laballery, Clamecy (Nievre) 1952]) 8.75" X 5.5", 189pp. full leather rebinding of the paperback (original covers included), fine condition, ribbin intact, Original back cover states "not to be sold in England or U.S.A" The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight is a fifteenth-century Arabic sex manual and work of erotic literature. The book presents opinions on what qualities men and women should have to be attractive, gives advice on sexual technique, warnings about sexual health, and recipes to remedy sexual maladies. It gives lists of names for the penis and vagina, has a section on the interpretation of dreams, and briefly describes sex among animals. Interspersed with these there are a number of stories which are intended to give context and amusement. Sheikh Nefzawi (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ben Umar Nafzawi), was born among the Berber Nefzawa tribe in the south of present-day Tunisia. He probably wrote The Perfumed Garden sometime during the twelfth century, compiled at the request of the Hafsid ruler of Tunis, Abū Fāris ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Mutawakkil. A nice full leather copy of the work. -
Les Œuvres Galantes et Amoureuses D'Ovide, contenant l'Art d'Aimer, le Remede d'Amour, les Épitre et les Élégies amoureuses, Nouvelle Édition (Vol 2 only of 2) (A Cythere, Aux Dépens du Loisir, 1774) 5"x8", 204pp, full calf, gilt titles and decorations to spine, 5 raised bands, marbled boards, good+ condition 2nd volume only beautifully bound, this volume contains the Art of Love, the Remedy of Love, the Letters and Elegies in Love, New Edition (Vol 2 only of 2) Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC – AD 17/18), known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists. He enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, was sent by Augustus into exile in a remote province on the Black Sea, where he remained until his death. Ovid himself attributes his exile to carmen et error, "a poem and a mistake", but his discretion in discussing the causes has resulted in much speculation among scholars. The first major Roman poet to begin his career during the reign of Augustus, Ovid is today best known for the Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative written in the meter of epic, and for works in elegiac couplets such as Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love") and Fasti. His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology. -
La Grande Diablerie, poem du XVe siècles, by Éloy d'Amerval (George Hurtrel, Artiste-Édueur, Paris, 1884, #152/1000 hand signed by publisher) 5" x 6.75", 216pp, in original published state, french wraps with loose hardcover/case, red with gilt decoration, frontispiece and 3 full page engravings by Paul Avril protected by tissue guard, images throughout, good minus condition, spine cover is sunned, binding is loose and splitting in places Eloy d'Amerval (fl. 1455 – 1508) was a French composer, singer, choirmaster, and poet of the Renaissance. He spent most of his life in the Loire Valley of France. From his poetic works, the long poem Le livre de la deablerie, it can be inferred that he knew most of the famous composers of the time, even though his own musical works never approached theirs in renown. This poem, considered invaluable to music historians, recounts a dialogue between Satan and Lucifer, in which their nefarious plotting of future evil deeds is interrupted periodically by the author, who among other accounts of earthly and divine virtue, records useful information on contemporary musical practice. In addition to listing musical instruments, he lists who he considers to be the great composers of the time: they are residents of Paradise in his poem, even though several were still alive in 1508, the date of its composition. Édouard-Henri Avril (1849-1928) used the pseudonym “Paul Avril” for his erotic work. He was a French painter and commercial artist. His career saw collaboration with influential people like Octave Uzanne, Henry Spencer Ashbee and Friedrich Karl Forberg. He is one of the most celebrated erotic artists of his age. Avril was a soldier before starting his career in art. He was awarded with the Legion of Honour for his actions in the Franco-Prussian War. -
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Venus in Furs, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, illustrated by Charles Raymond [trans. Fernanda Savage] (Privately Printed For Subscribers Only, New York, 1928) 218pp, hardbound with slipcase, blue faux sued boards, white spine with gilt titles, deckled edges, dark blue slipcase with orange title on spine, very good condition for age, slipcase bumps and rubbing repair to bottom of spine, book clean, pages in unread condition with some remaining uncut Venus in Furs (German: Venus im Pelz) is a novella by Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895), an Austrian writer and journalist. It is now his best known work and because of its themes the term masochism is derived from his name, coined by the Austrian psychiatrist, Krafft-Ebing. The novel was to be part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series. It was published in 1870. The novel draws themes, like female dominance and sadomasochism, and character inspiration heavily from Sacher-Masoch's own life. Wanda von Dunajew, the novel's central female character, was modelled after his mistress Baroness Fanny Pistor. In December 1869 the two signed a contract making him her slave for a period of 6 months. In 1873, after the publication of Venus in Furs, Sacher-Masoch married Aurora von Rümelin who he pressured to continue the lifestyle he wrote about in his book. After 10 years they divorced. Rümelin, using the pseudonym of the books title character, "Wanda von Dunajew", wrote Meine Lebensbeichte (My Life Confession) published in 1906. It detailed Sacher-Masoch's private life and her relationship with him. During his lifetime, Sacher-Masoch was well known as a man of letters, a utopian thinker who espoused socialist and humanist ideals in his fiction and non-fiction. Most of his works remain untranslated into English. Until recently, his novel Venus in Furs was his only book commonly available in English. -
The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio, Giovanni Boccaccio, trans. Richard Aldington, illustrated by Rockwell Kent (Garden City Books, Garden City, NY, 1949 [date of illustrations]) 9 1/2" X 6 3/8", 562pp, hardbound with DJ protected by mylar, green boards with cream spine, great condition. This is the popular (at the time) Garden City edition. Superb art deco color illustrations throughout by Rockwell Kent (famous illustrator of Moby Dick and others). The Decameron, (subtitled Prencipe Galeotto or Prince Galehaut), is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. To make their exile more pleasant each of the ten tells the others one story every day. The Decameron records the narratives of ten days -- 100 stories. Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. These tales run the entire range of human emotion: grief, love, humor, anger, revenge. Many are based on oral folklore. Boccaccio's ten narrators thus retell already familiar stories about errant priests, rascally husbands, and mischievous wives. Variants of these stories are known in many cultures, but no one formulates them more cleverly or relates them more eloquently than does Boccaccio. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence, it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. -
Immortalia, an anthology of american ballads, sailors' songs, cowboy songs, college songs, parodies, limericks, and other humorous verses and doggerel now for the first time brought together in book form, "By A Gentleman About Town" [T. R. Smith?] ("...privately printed for subscribers, none is for general sale" 1927 [pirated edition from the 2nd printing 1928 edtion, c.1932. New York: Samuel Roth or, less likely, Philadelphia: Nathan Young and Robert Sterling].) 6" x 8.75", iii, 184 pp., hardbound no DJ, decorated paper boards, cloth on spine and corners, worn edges on boards, corners bumped, binding tight. Assumed to be edited by T. R. Smith (George Macy, editor of Poetica Erotica around the same time). This is the most influential and widely published/circulated collection of "bawdry". Most collections since borrow from it liberally. There is a heavy emphasis on limericks (103 to be exact). Included are poems/"doggerel" attributed to James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence. -
Ninety-Five Limericks | A Contribution to the Folk Lore of our Time | Collected and Edited by John Falmouth (The Limerick Press, Suffern, NY, 1932) 5"x7.25", unpaginated, protected DJ over tan cloth boards with red lettering and decorations, tears and soiling to DJ, some soiling on boards, interior good, previous owner added a limerick about a young man from Calcutta in the end pages. Mr. Falmouth has a 6 page forward where he discusses the phallic nature of the limerick (with diagrams). A fun little book even though the profanity is exed out.
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Sex Mythology | including an account of the | Masculine Cross, anonymous, Sha Rocco [Abisha S. Hudson] (Privately Printed, London, 1898, one of 200 copies unnumbered) 8.25" X 6", 64pp, quarter white cloth over grey boards, good condition, some bumping to corners, bookplate of Virginia & Edwin Irwin, bookseller stamp of George T. Juckes, London. An account of primitive symbolism and ancient phallic worship including Yoni, Shaga, Hebrew phallicism, Bacchic festivals, sexual rites, religious prostitution, and the mysteries of the ancient faiths. "The phallus and the sexual vocabulary of the Bible are explained within for the first time." The work is anonymous but much of the text comes from the writer of the preface, Sha Rocco, a pseudonym for Abisha S. Hudson. Abisha was born Abisha Shumway Hudson (1819-1905) was born in Oxford, Massachusetts one half of a pair of twins: his twin brother, Abijah T. Hudson, was never far from Abisha; the two trained as physicians together, lived together, and doctored together, in the midwest and on the west coast, even after they married. In April of 1855, Abisha radicalized, ordering a copy of Robert Taylor's infamous Diegesis from the bookstore of the Boston Investigator to hone his arguments as an anti-Christian free-thinker: the subtext for Sha Rocco's Masculine Cross. In 1874, The Masculine Cross and Ancient Sex Worship is published, by Asa K. Butts, a free-thought publisher in New York. Other published editions followed and he contributed to the present book published in London. Abisha was a public Spiritualist and the author of at least one other work "Tree and Serpent Worship" published around 1894, this time using his own name.
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1601 A Tudor Fireside Conversation As Written by the Ingenuous, Virtuous and learned Mark Twain, wit., Embellished by the worthy Alan Odle, Mark Twain, illustrations Alan Odle (Land's End Press, USA, 1969, stated "At London, Printed for Subscribers Only and are to be sold at ye beare Back-Side in Maiden Lane") 8.75"x11.25", 24pp (unpaginated), hardbound with mylar-protected dust jacket, red boards with gilt titles [Date: 1601.] Conversation, as it was the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors is the title of a humorous work by Mark Twain, first published anonymously in 1880. Edward Wagenknecht once referred to it as "the most famous piece of pornography in American literature." Its content is irreverent and vulgar rather than obscene, and its purpose seems to be comedic shock rather than erotic arousal. It would thus qualify as ribaldry rather than pornography. Twain wrote 1601 during the summer of 1876 (between writing Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn), for the amusement of his closest friend, Reverend Joseph Twichell, 1601 was later first published by another friend, John Hay, who later became Secretary of State. The work circulated among printers (due to it's often archaic type font) and many small batches were printed, however the authorship of the work remained unverified until Twain finally acknowledged he wrote it in 1906.
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Marriage Ceremonies and Priapic Rites in India and the East, "by a member of the Royal Asiatic Society" (Printed for Private Circulation Only, 1909) 9" X 7.25", 107pp., hardbound, blue cloth boards, gilt and red titles on spine, top edge gilt. Very good condition, binding good hinges good. From forward: "The sentiments of Hindu Sages that follow have been chosen mostly from well-known books. They are instructive in many respects, and pretend to be nothing but a collection of notes made by the author while seeking a solution to his own doubts and difficulties... So this monograph--the subject of which is the one most intimately bound up with the life of every man and woman--will be found useful and interesting, both to the Aryans of the East, and to the Aryans of the West, and further needs no apology for its appearance."
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Les Amants de Lesbos, Prosper Castanier, illus. Franz Schmidt (Librairie L. Borel, Paris, 1900) 6" X 3.25", 116pp, Hardbound in 1/4 tan leather over marbled boards, marbled end-papers, glassine protective tissue for title page with gold emblem stamped on it. Very good condition. An imagination of the life and loves of the poet Sappho and her fight against the tyrant of Mytilene. The French author, poet, novelist and historian Prosper Castanier (1865-19??) was born in Saint-Ambroix (Gard). He was the editor-in-chief of the "Progrès du midi". He had made a specialty of novels set in antiquity. (Particularly after the success of Aphrodite by Pierre Louès, published in 1896) -
Kurtizána z Memfidy: Anticky román [Czech], Prosper Castanier, trans. Karel Weinfurter, illus. A. Calbeta (Alois Hynek, Praha [Prague], nd [c. 1901], printed by J. Rokyta, Praha) 7" x 4.5", 312pp, hardbound brown decorated cloth boards with gilt and other colors, gilt lettering and design on spine. Top edge gilt. Illustrated throughout with 4 choice illustrations duplicated in alternating red and green before title page. Great condition of a very rare book. This is a rare Czech translation of The Courtesan of Memphis, Czech Memfidy (Memphis) book, also in the rare publisher's original cloth-binding. The publisher, Alois Hynek, translated this and many of Castanier's books into German. These books had similiarly decorated covers. Most of the Hynek's Czech translations one finds are softcover. This is a rare hardcover translation into Czech. It is beautifully illustrated The French author, poet, novelist and historian Prosper Castanier (1865-19??) was born in Saint-Ambroix (Gard). He was the editor-in-chief of the "Progrès du midi". He had made a specialty of novels set in antiquity. (Particularly after the success of Aphrodite by Pierre Louès, published in 1896) -
Experiences of Flagellation: A Series of Remarkable Instances of Whipping Inflicted on Both Sexes, With Curious Anecdotes of Ladies Fond of Administering Birch Discipline., "compiled by An Amateur Flagallant" (Printed for Private Circulation, London, 1885, first edition) 5.25"x 8", 80pp, hardbound no DJ, tan boards with blue spine, fair condition for age, some bumping to boards, binding fragile but holding, split between first and second signature, page 15/16 detached. A great read! Forward asserts God ordained pain and punishment, even animals fear it, it is his police department, not to punish is to keep a boy out of God's school. The rod should be used ceremoniously. Even girls up to 18 have often ben greatly improved for life by "Dr. Spankster's" cure wisely administered. Sections include: Flogging Girls, Wife Beating, A Conjugal Scene, Lady Preparing for Birching, and many more. -
One Hundred Merrie and Delightsome Stories, ed. by Antoine de La Sale, trans. Robert B. Douglas (Charles Carrington, Paris, 1899 [pirated facimile reprint, probably New York, c.1930 states "privately printed from the Charles Carrington Paris 1899 edition] #294/1250) 8" X 5.75", two volumes, xxx+532pp, pagination continuous. Fifty-two b&w plates by Léon Lebègue, marbled boards, gilt on spine, top edge gilt, other edges deckled, very good condition, minor bumping, some stains on front cover of vol. 2 Charles Carrington was the first to have this translated into English. This is a pirated copy, but still very nicely printed on good paper, the illustrations are in B&W. Purported a collection of short stories narrated by various persons at the court of Philippe le Bon, and collected together by Antoine de la Sale, the nouvelles are, according to the authority on French Literature—Professor George Saintsbury "undoubtedly the first work of literary prose in French ... The short prose tale of a comic character is the one French literary product the pre-eminence and perfection of which it is impossible to dispute, and the prose tale first appears to advantage in the Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles." The stories give a curious glimpses of life in the 15th century, providing a genuine view of the social condition of the nobility and the middle classes. M. Lenient, a French critic, says: "Generally the incidents and personages belong to the bourgeoisée; there is nothing chivalric, nothing wonderful; no dreamy lovers, romantic dames, fairies, or enchanters. Noble dames, bourgeois, nuns, knights, merchants, monks, and peasants mutually dupe each other. The lord deceives the miller's wife by imposing on her simplicity, and the miller retaliates in much the same manner. The shepherd marries the knight's sister, and the nobleman is not over scandalized. The vices of the monks are depicted in half a score tales, and the seducers are punished with a severity not always in proportion to the offence." For four centuries 10 of the stories were credited to Louis XI. Modern scholars have since ascribed them to either Philippe le Bel or Comte de Charolais. In all, some thirty-two noblemen or squires contributed the stories, with some 14 or 15 taken from Giovanni Boccaccio, and as many more from Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini or other Italian writers, or French fabliaux, but about 70 of them appear to be original. -
The Photographer, (n.p. n.d.) 4.5" x 3", 8pp. pamphlet, stapled Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, bluesies, gray-backs, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, Tillie-and-Mac books, and two-by-fours) were little pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s. -
The Sofa, a moral tale by Crébillon fils, trans. Bonamy Dobrée, illus. Robert Bonfils (The Folio Society, St. James's, London, 1951) 6.75"x9.25", v+256, red boards with silver gilt decorations on spine, spine only slightly sunned, slipcase The Sofa: A Moral Tale (French: Le Sopha, conte moral) is a 1742 libertine novel by Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (Crebillon fils). It was first translated into English in the spring of 1742. The story concerns a young courtier, Amanzéï, whose soul in a previous life was condemned by Brahma to inhabit a series of sofas, and not to be reincarnated in a human body until two virgin lovers had consummated their passion for him. The novel is structured as a frame story in an oriental setting, explicitly evocative of the Arabian Nights, in which Amanzéï recounts the adventures of seven couples, which he witnessed in his sofa form, to the bored sultan Shah Baham (grandson of Shehryār and Scheherazade). The longest episode, that of Zulica, takes up nine chapters; the final episode concerns the teenage Zéïnis et Phéléas. Amanzéï, witnessing their innocent pleasure, is edified and freed through the experience of virtuous love. Many of the characters in the novel are satirical portraits of influential and powerful Parisians of Crébillon’s time; the author takes the opportunity to ridicule hypocrisy in its different forms (worldly respectability, virtue, religious devotion). Although the book was published anonymously and with a false imprint, Crébillon was discovered to be the author and was exiled to a distance of thirty leagues from Paris on April 7, 1742. He was able to return on July 22, after claiming that the work had been commissioned by Frederick II of Prussia and that it had been published against his will. Robert Bonfils started his illustration career in Chicago in the mid fifties, doing various commercial art assignments such as advertisements, lunch box decorations, catalog illustrations, magazine covers, interior story illustrations, record jacket covers, and book covers. He is best known for his covers for erotic, pulp fiction paperbacks. -
The Gumps - Oh Min!, (np. nd.) 4.5" x 3", 8pp. pamphlet, stapled Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, bluesies, gray-backs, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, Tillie-and-Mac books, and two-by-fours) were little pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s. -
Hank O'Hare presents Tillie, (np. nd.) 4.5" x 3", 8pp., pamphlet, stapled and taped Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, bluesies, gray-backs, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, Tillie-and-Mac books, and two-by-fours) were little pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s. -
The Dialogues of Luisa Sigea, Nicolas Chorier, translation by Isadore Liseux (Isadore Liseux, Paris, 1890, first edition, first English translation, printed by Ch. Unsinger) 8.75" X 5.75", 2nd and 3rd books of a 3 vol set, 132pp, 98+2pp, 3/4 crimson morocco over red boards, gilt decorations and titles on spine, top edge gilt, others deckled. Excellent condition for age, very minor bumping on corners and top and bottom of spine. In six dialogues (I. The skirmish; II. Tribadicon; III. Fabric; IV. The duel; V. Pleasures; VI. Frolics and sports) Tullia, who is 26, initiates her 15 year old cousin, Ottavia, in the art of sexual pleasure. The first four dialogues (not present), are fairly short, focus on tribadism and defloration. The longer fifth and six dialogues introduce flagellation, contractual submission, group sex, and anal sex. Like many sexual fictions, The Dialogues of Luisa Sigea (originally written in latin "Aloisiae Sigeae Satyra Sotadica de arcanis Amoris et Veneris") attempts to conceal the identity of its author: it purports to be based on a Latin manuscript translation of a work written originally in Spanish in the sixteenth century by an erudite young woman, Luisa Sigea of Toledo and translated into latin by Jean Meursius of Holland. In fact, it was written c. 1660, in latin, by a Frenchman, Nicolas Chorier (1612-1692), a lawyer who wrote works on various historical and philosophical subjects. The first first French translation, L’Academie des dames, was issued in the 1680. This 1890 edition was for the first time translated into English by Isidore Liseux and issued as a 3 volume set. (1. I-IV, 2. V, 3. VI). Vol 1 is missing from this set. Isidore Liseux (1835-1894) was a French bibliophile and publisher of erotica and curiosa. His publications were mostly rare texts of 16th to 18th century authors, hard to find and little known books which were usually translated and annotated by his friend and associate Alcide Bonneau or by Liseux himself. Liseux and Bonneau, both ex-priests, knew each other since seminary. His books were published in small numbers, on high quality paper, and with excellent typography. His usual printers were Claude Motteroz, Antoine Bécus, and later Charles Unsinger. Liseux's books were published openly as the climate was more permissive in Paris at the time. His books were so well regarded that pirates of his books and even unrelated books bearing his imprint with a false date were published clandestinely into the 20th century. French poet, Guillaume Apollinaire wrote: "The publications of Liseux are more and more sought after because they are correct, beautiful and rare." (Le flaneur des deux rives, 1918).
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Julie, ou J'ai sauvé ma rose, Madame de C*** [Félicité Choiseul-Meuse] (J.-J. Gay, Bruxelles, 1882) 8" x 5.25", 2 vol. 169pp 188pp, full mottled calf, marbled endpapers. Gilt lettering and decorations on spine, 5 raised bands. 2 frontispiece engravings. just Fair condition, interior good, exterior in poor shape, Vol. 1 boards loose, Vol. 2 boards detached. Felicite de Choiseul-Meuse wrote approximately twenty-seven novels from 1797 to 1824. Writings are sometimes identified by pseudonyms and acronyms: LFDLC; Emilia P ***, Madame de C *** , etc.. Her 1807 novel "Julie, ou j'ai sauvé ma rose" [Julie, or I saved my rose] is widely considered the first erotic novel written by a woman. It is more appropriately translated as "how I kept my cherry" for it tells the tale of a young woman who lets her lovers fondle her all they want, but will not allow penetration until she finds the right man and marries him. The work was condemned as obscene and its destruction ordered by the Cour royale de Paris on August 5, 1828. Excerpt: "I tasted in his arms unspeakable pleasures. Deadened by pleasure, then revived by an even more delirious pleasure, I made the object of happiness almost as happy as I was myself; and yet, true to my system, I made sure that he did not harvest the rose."
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Julie, ou J'ai sauvé ma rose, Madame de C*** [Félicité Choiseul-Meuse] (Se trouve chez tous les Libraires Anglais, 1882) 8" x 5.25", 2 vol. bound together, 166pp 183pp, half calf on marbled boards, original wraps bound within, red label with gilt titles on spine, just good condition, boards intact, binding good, ribbon intact, major scuffing and bumping to the spine and rubbing to the boards. Felicite de Choiseul-Meuse wrote approximately twenty-seven novels from 1797 to 1824. Writings are sometimes identified by pseudonyms and acronyms: LFDLC; Emilia P ***, Madame de C *** , etc.. Her 1807 novel "Julie, ou j'ai sauvé ma rose" [Julie, or I saved my rose] is widely considered the first erotic novel written by a woman. It is more appropriately translated as "how I kept my cherry" for it tells the tale of a young woman who lets her lovers fondle her all they want, but will not allow penetration until she finds the right man and marries him. The work was condemned as obscene and its destruction ordered by the Cour royale de Paris on August 5, 1828. Excerpt: "I tasted in his arms unspeakable pleasures. Deadened by pleasure, then revived by an even more delirious pleasure, I made the object of happiness almost as happy as I was myself; and yet, true to my system, I made sure that he did not harvest the rose."
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Mon Oncle Barbassou, Mario Uchard, illust. Paul Avril (J. Lemonnyer, Paris, 1884 [#394/1000, one of only 225 printed on Holland Paper]) 10" X 6.5", 311pp., hardbound in 3/4 dark blue morocco leather with gilt titles and decorations on spine with 5 raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt others deckled. First Illustrated Edition with many beautiful engravings by Paul Avril throughout. Some very slight wear to leather and boards, otherwise a very good+ copy overall clean, bright and structurally sound. #394/1000, one of only 275 in Holland Paper. Originally published in 4 parts in 1876, My Uncle Barbassou is a story of a man who inherits his uncle's estate which includes a newly purchased harem of 3 young girls. This novel is a prime example of the French "Orientalists" of the late 1800's. Scandalous for the age, but mild by today's standards, this book is in the original french. This is a beautifully bound copy of the First Illustrated Edition with plates by Paul Avril. Édouard-Henri Avril (1849-1928) used the pseudonym "Paul Avril" for his erotic work. He was a French painter and commercial artist. His career saw collaboration with influential people like Octave Uzanne, Henry Spencer Ashbee and Friedrich Karl Forberg. He is one of the most celebrated erotic artists of his age. Avril was a soldier before starting his career in art. He was awarded with the Legion of Honour for his actions in the Franco-Prussian War. -
My Life and Loves, Frank Harris (Obelisk Press Books, Paris, 1945) 7" X 5.5", 233pp, 302pp, 176pp, 178pp., 4 vols hardbound in one book, red cloth boards, very good condition for age, pages yellowing no titles on spine or boards. Autobiography of the Ireland-born, naturalized-American writer and editor Frank Harris (1856_1931). Published privately by Harris between 1922 and 1927, and by Jack Kahane's Obelisk Press in 1931, the work consisted of four volumes (with a 5th promised but never delivered). The book gives a graphic account of Harris' sexual adventures and relates gossip about the sexual activities of celebrities of his day. Printed on somewhat cheap paper, these volumes are often in rough shape. This book presents the volumes preserved as best as can be expected for their age. -
The Twilight of the Nymphs, Pierre Louys, illustrated by Clara Tice, "designed and supervised by Harry Cunningham" (The Pierre Louys Society, US, 1927, #682/990) 9.75" x 6.5", 235pp, white boards with silver gilt decorations on cover and spine, no dustjacket, fair condition, back boards loose but holding, pages clean. Pierre Louys (1870 - 1925) was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who "expressed pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection." A collection of seven mildly erotic fables based on mythology. "This Edition Limited to 1250 copies of which 990 are for America, No. 682". 28 beautiful color illustrations by Clara Tice, all with tissue overlay and enhanced with gilt and silver.
