James Glass Bertram (1824-1892) was a Scottish author. He was apprenticed to Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine and became managing clerk, before joining a company of strolling players. He returned to Edinburgh and set up as a bookseller and newsagent. In 1855 he was appointed the editor of the North Briton and in 1872 of the Glasgow News, leaving to become a freelance journalist two years later. Bertram’s output included pornography on the theme of flagellation, such as Flagellation and the Flagellants: A History of the Rod published in 1868 under the pseudonym of “Revd William Cooper” and Personal Recollections of the Use of the Rod as “Margaret Anson”, published by John Camden Hotten.

  • Flagellation & the Flagellants. a History of the Rod in All Countries, The Rev. Wm. M. Cooper, B.A. [James Glass Bertram] (John Camden Hotten, London, n.d. [1870, from ads at end of book]) 7 3/4" X 5 1/2", 544pp plus 32 pages of advertisements for "Very Important New Books", hardbound with red cloth, gilt lettering and decorations, spine worn at top and bottom and lower front, Binder's ticket on lower pastedown: "Bound by W. Bone and Son. 76 Fleet St. London E.C.", front pastdown has cute bookplate asking the book be returned to Robert Day, front end-paper has armorial bookplate of Robert Day. Good condition, corners bumped, top and bottom of spine worn, back boards loose but holding. Bertram was apprenticed to Tait's Edinburgh Magazine and became managing clerk, before joining a company of strolling players. He returned to Edinburgh and set up as a bookseller and newsagent. In 1855 he was appointed the editor of the North Briton and in 1872 of the Glasgow News, leaving to become a freelance journalist two years later. He published "flagellation" pornography under the names "Revd William Cooper" and "Margaret Anson". Illustrated throughout with a colored frontispiece. The bookplate is of Robert Day (1836_1914), an Irish antiquarian and photographer who collaborated with Franz Tieze in producing imitation Williamite, Jacobite and Irish Volunteer glassware. He was an important and well-travelled antiquarian collector. He was involved in his family's extensive saddlery business together with a sports shop well known to Cork anglers.
  • Flagellation & the Flagellants. a History of the Rod in All Countries, The Rev. Wm. M. Cooper, B.A. [James Glass Bertram] (John Camden Hotten, London, n.d. [1873, from ads at end of book] "a new edition revised and corrected") 7 3/4" X 5 1/2", 544pp plus 32 pages of advertisements for "Very Important New Books", hardbound with red cloth, gilt lettering and decorations, spine worn at top and bottom and lower front, Very Good condition, corners bumped, top and bottom of spine worn, boards slightly loose. Ex libris: "From the library of Walter Wentworth Allerton" Bertram was apprenticed to Tait's Edinburgh Magazine and became managing clerk, before joining a company of strolling players. He returned to Edinburgh and set up as a bookseller and newsagent. In 1855 he was appointed the editor of the North Briton and in 1872 of the Glasgow News, leaving to become a freelance journalist two years later. He published "flagellation" pornography under the names "Revd William Cooper" and "Margaret Anson". Illustrated throughout. This is a later "newly revised edition" from Hotten and the version used for the Reeves edition.
  • Flagellation & the Flagellants. A History of the Rod in All Countries from the earliest period to the present time, The Rev. Wm. M. Cooper, B.A. [James Glass Bertram] (William Reeves Bookseller Limited, London, nd [c. 1908]) 7 3/4" X 5 1/4", 544pp, hardbound no DJ, dark purple cloth boards with gilt stamp and blind stamp decorations to boards and spine, price is marked on spine in gilt "12/6" (12 shilling, 6 penny), gilting is faded, good condition, minor bumping and rubbing, binding good but leaning slightly, back board hinges worn but holding. Bertram was apprenticed to Tait's Edinburgh Magazine and became managing clerk, before joining a company of strolling players. He returned to Edinburgh and set up as a bookseller and newsagent. In 1855 he was appointed the editor of the North Briton and in 1872 of the Glasgow News, leaving to become a freelance journalist two years later. He published "flagellation" pornography under the names "Revd William Cooper" and "Margaret Anson". This edition was published by William Reeves sometime around 1908.
  • Out of stock
    Flagellation & the Flagellants. A History of the Rod in All Countries from the earliest period to the present time, The Rev. Wm. M. Cooper, B.A. [James Glass Bertram] (William Reeves Bookseller Limited, London, nd [c. 1908]) 7 3/4" X 5 1/4", 544pp, hardbound no DJ, dark purple cloth boards with gilt stamp and blind stamp decorations to boards and spine, good condition, minor bumping and rubbing, a few stains on lower fore-edge of boards. Bertram was apprenticed to Tait's Edinburgh Magazine and became managing clerk, before joining a company of strolling players. He returned to Edinburgh and set up as a bookseller and newsagent. In 1855 he was appointed the editor of the North Briton and in 1872 of the Glasgow News, leaving to become a freelance journalist two years later. He published "flagellation" pornography under the names "Revd William Cooper" and "Margaret Anson". This edition was published by William Reeves sometime around 1908.
  • The Merry Order of St. Bridget, Margaret Anson (James Glass Bertram) (Printed for the Author's Friends, np, York, 1857 [fascimile copy of the 1868 edition c. 1930]) 7 7/8" X 5 1/4", 237pp, hardbound textured green cloth boards, paper lable on spine, deckle edges, corners and top/botton of spine bumped, binding loose but intact Bertram was apprenticed to Tait's Edinburgh Magazine and became managing clerk, before joining a company of strolling players. He returned to Edinburgh and set up as a bookseller and newsagent. In 1855 he was appointed the editor of the North Briton and in 1872 of the Glasgow News, leaving to become a freelance journalist two years later. He published "flagellation" pornography under the names "Revd William Cooper" and "Margaret Anson". In this graphic unveiling of 19th-century sexual adventures, Margaret Anson, a submissive handmaiden to the notorious Marquise St. Val_ry, describes the orgies at the Chateau de Floris, where the elite women of Paris submit to the subjugations and exotic indignities of the flesh that trigger ecstatic sensations. "Do you remember how we used to indulge in whipping on the sly, when Madame thought we were in bed? That was a very untutored way of proceeding. I have learned better since, and I can tell you that the passion for the rod is one which grows." 237 pp.
Go to Top