Bibliothèque Des Curieux was a French publishing house created by the Briffaut brothers. Specializing in “curiosa” (an oft-used French euphemism for erotica) , they had several collections including “Les Maîtres de l’Amour” (Masters of Love) and “Le Coffret du Bibliophile” (The Case of Bibliophile). These are mostly old classic erotica in a redacted version, with notes or introductions Guillaume Apollinaire, Jean Hervez or Bagneux Villeneuve (aka Raoul Vèze), Jean Cabanel (alias Jean Texcier), Fernand Fleuret, and Louis Perceau. They also published studies of eroticism through the ages and “chronic libertines”. Their publishing house was called “L’Édition” and was located at 4, rue de Furstemberg, dans le 6e arrondissement, Paris.
As clandestine publishers, they were most active between 1909 and 1914. On April 29, 1925, Robert Briffaut was sentenced to two years imprisonment for gross indecency for his publishing house, L’Édition.
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Mémoires de Fanny Hill, Femme de Plaisir, John Cleland (Bibliothèque Des Curieux, Paris, 1914) 9" X 5 5/8", 281pp, soft bound, deckle edges, many pages uncut/unread, "decorated with six compositions from the series of engravings by William Hogarth: La Destin_e d'une Courtisane", fair condition, good considering it's age, pages yellow and small rips near spine Written while the author was in debtor's prison in London and first published in 1749, Fanny Hill is considered the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel. One of the most prosecuted and banned books in history, it has become a synonym for obscenity. This book appeared as a part of a series "Les Maitres de l'amour" (The Masters of Love). "With documents about life in London in the eighteenth century, including Life after the gallant Serails of London, Introduction and bibliography by Guillaume Apollinaire"