Memoirs of Fanny Hill, John Cleland, illustrator unknown (Isidore Liseux [false imprint, pirate copy] 1911, 169/350)
6.25″ X 9.5″, 268pp, hardbound maroon boards, decorative pastedowns, erotic B&W illustrations throughout, back boards loose but holding.
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.
Fanny Hill was copied and pirated liberally. Isidore Liseux was a famous publisher of erotic works in France so it is not a surprise that his title page was reproduced here to lend this edition a hint of authenticity. Few of the actual Liseux editions existed. So as Fanny Hill became more popular and desired, clandestine publishers stepped up to fill the need with these pirates.
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