This volume examines the growth of high-end literary pornographic productions that took place towards the final quarter of the nineteenth century and were largely published on the continent where control of production was lax. These publications were published and circulated for the elite. Publications that came from this group and period include The Pearl, My Secret Life, Romance of Lust, and The Sins of the Cities of the Plain; or, The Recollections of a Mary-Ann, with Short Essays on Sodomy and Tribadism. The volume includes Home Office and Foreign Office records that detail the methods attempted to limit the spread of pornography.
This volume examines the growth of high-end literary pornographic productions that took place towards the final quarter of the nineteenth century and were largely published on the continent where control of production was lax. These publications were published and circulated for the elite.
Volume 3: Pornographic Literature and the Underground Book Trade,
1880s-1910s
Editor: Colette Colligan
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chronology
General Introduction
Volume 3 Introduction
Bibliography
Introduction: Pornographic Literature and the Underground Book Trade,
1880s-1910s
Part 1: The Sins of the Cities of the Plain or the Recollections of a Mary-
Ann, 1881
Introduction
1.1. Literary Excerpts
1. The Sins of the Cities of the Plain or the Recollections of a Mary-Ann
with Short Essays on Sodomy and Tribadism, vol. 1 [ excerpts] (London [ Paris]:
Privately Printed, 1881 [ c. 1891]), pp. 7-26, 96-106.
2. The Sins of the Cities of the Plain or the Recollections of a Mary-Ann
with Short Essays on Sodomy and Tribadism, vol.
2. [ excerpts] (London
[ Paris]: Privately Printed, 1881 [ c.1891] ), pp. 107-22.
3. Letters from Laura and Eveline. Giving an Account of their Mock=Marriage,
Wedding Trip etc. [ excerpt] (London [ Paris]: Privately Printed, 1903), pp.
5-53.
1.2. Bibliographic Entries
4. The Sins of the Cities of the Plain and Letters from Laura to Eveline in
Pisanus Fraxi, Catena Librorum Tacendorum: Being Notes
Bio-biblio-iconographical and Critical, on Curious and Uncommon books
(London: Privately Printed, MDCCCLXXXV), pp. 194-95.
1.3 Early Reception of The Sins of the Cities of the Plain
5. Doctor Jacobus X, Crossways of Sex. A Study in Erotico-Pathology, vol.
2.
[ excerpt] (Paris: British Bibliophiles Society. Issued for the Subscribers,
1904), pp. 156-57.
6. Charles Reginald Dawes, A Study of Erotic Literature in England.
Considered with Especial Reference to Social Life [ excerpt] (Gotheringon,
Cheltenham: [ Unpublished], 1943).
1.4. Victorian Laws Prosecuting Queer Sexuality
7. Offences Against the Person Act 1861, c. 100, Section
61.
8. Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, Section
11.
1.5. Newspapers and Queer Sex Scandals
9. Newspaper coverage of the Boulton and Park Trial: Occasional Notes, Pall
Mall Gazette, 10 May 1871, p. 4, and Reynoldss Newspaper, 14 May 1871, pp.
6-8 and 21 May 1871, pp. 5-6.
10. Newspaper coverage on the arrest of a soldier: Police Intelligence, The
Daily Telegraph, 9 July 1881, p.
2.
1.6. Underground Dealers: William Lazenby, Bookseller and Publisher
11. Police, The Times, 17 July 1871, p.
13.
12. Police, The Times, 16 September 1876, p.
11.
13. Indecent Publications, Reynoldss Newspaper, 24 September 1876, p.
1.
14. Trial of William Lazenby, Proceedings of the Central Criminal Court, 18th
September,
1876.
15. William Lazenby, Newgate Prison Register
16. Selling Obscene Publications, Pall Mall Gazette, 27 November 1886, p.
10.
17. William Lazenby (alias Duncan Cameron), 22 November
1886.
Part
2. Randiana; or Excitable Tales, 1884
Introduction
2.1. Literary Excerpts
18. Randiana; or Excitable Tales; Being the Experiences of an Erotic
Philosopher [ excerpt], (New York [ London]: MDCCCLXXXIV), pp. 122-27
19. Abishag. A Luscious Tale of a Successful Physiological Search After
Rejuvenescence By David II (Jerusalem [ Paris, 1900?]), pp. 3-19
2.2. Randiana in Underground Book Catalogues
20. Entry for Randiana in Bibliotheca Arcana, Being a Rough List of Rare,
Curious and Uncommon Books, Pamphlets, Prints, & Engravings (London:
MDCCCXCIX)
21. Entry for Randiana from Catalogue of Rare and Curious English Books
2.3. Bibliographical Entries on Randiana
22. Entry on Randiana from Pisanus Fraxi [ Henry Spencer Ashbee], Catena
Librorum Tacendorum: Being Notes Bio-biblio-iconographical and Critical, on
Curious and Uncommon Books (London: Privately Printed, MDCCCLXXXV).
23. Excerpt from Épreuves corrigées (corrected proofs) for Guillaume
Apollinaire, Fernand Fleuret, and Louis Perceau, LEnfer de la Bibliothèque
nationale, (1913)
24. Excerpt from the published version of Guillaume Apollinaire, Fernand
Fleuret, and Louis Perceau, LEnfer de la Bibliothèque nationale,
icono-bio-bibliographie de tous les ouvrages composant cette célèbre
collection (Paris: Mercure de France, 1913).
Part
3. The Romance of Violette, 1891
Introduction
3.1. Literary Excerpts
25. The Romance of Violette. A Posthumous Work by a Celebrated Incognito
(London [ Paris]: Privately Printed, 1891), pp. vii-x, 11-27, 185-210.
26. Le Roman de Violette. Oeuvre Posthume dune Célébrité masquée¸ [ excerpt
from
Chapter 9] (Lisbonne [ Brussels]: chez Antonio da Boa-Vista [ Auguste
Brancart], 1870 [ 1883]).
3.2. The Romance of Violette in Underground Book Catalogues
27. Entry from Catalogue of Rare Curious and Voluptuous Reading,
1893.
3.3. Dildoes in Pornographic Literature
28. Love and Safety; or Love and Lasciviousness with Safety and Secrecy
[ excerpt], (The Erotica Biblion Society of London-New York [ Paris], [ c.
1906]), pp. 59-67.
29. The Story of a Dildo. A Tale in Five Tableaux [ excerpt], (London
[ Brussels]: Private Printed, 1891), pp. 31-41, 82-6.
30. School Life in Paris [ excerpt], (Privately Printed: MDCCCXCVII), pp.
37-49
3.4. Underground Dealers: Henriette Doucé, Bookseller and Publisher
31. Excerpt from an advertisement for Doucés bookshop in La Revue populaire,
30 November 1882, p.
52.
32. Félicien Rops, La jolie fille en chemise [ menu pour Mlle Doucé], n.d.,
rotogravure retouched with drypoint and soft varnish on paper.
33. Publishers ornament on the title page of Honoré Gabriel Riquetti de
Mirabeau, Erotika Biblion (Bruxelles: Gay et Doucé, Éditeurs, 1881).
34. Publishers ornament on the title page of Éric Besnard, Le Lendemain du
mariage (Paris: H. Doucé, Libraire-Éditeur, 1884).
35. Publishers ornament on the title page of Émile Blain et H. Sombre,
Flétrie (Paris. Lalouette-Doucé, Libraire-Éditeur, 1888).
36. Doucé et Consorts, Archives de lÉtat à Bruxelles
Part
4. Teleny or The Reverse of the Medal, 1893
Introduction
4.1. Literary Excerpts
37. Teleny or The Reverse of the Medal. A Physiological Romance of To-Day,
vol. 2 [ excerpt] (Cosmopoli [ London]: 1893), pp. 7-63, 92-122
38. Des Grieux (The Prelude to Teleny), [ excerpt], 1 vol. (N.d. [ Paris]:
1899), pp. 5-26
39. Erotic Fragments from the Diary of a Paris Student, in Female Lust. As
Illustrated in the Ridingcocke Papers (Vichy [ Paris]: 1901), pp. 93-109
4.2. Teleny in Underground Book Catalogues
40. Entry on Teleny from Catalogue of Rare and Curious English Books
41. Entry on Teleny from List of Rare and Curious Books
4.3. Rumours about Oscar Wildes Involvement with Teleny
42. Vyvyan Hollands letter to Christopher Millard, 5 August 1921(extract)
43. Notice Bibliographique Extraite des Notes et Souvenirs dun Vieux
Bibliopole, in Teleny. Étude Physiologique. 2 vols (Paris: MCMXXXIV).
44. Charles Reginald Dawes, A Study of Erotic Literature in England.
Considered with Especial Reference to Social Life [ excerpt], (Gotheringon,
Cheltenham: [ Unpublished] 1943)
4.4. Underground Dealers: Leonard Smithers, Bookseller and Publisher
45. Catalogue from New and Gorgeous Pantomime entitled Harlequin Prince
Cherrytop and the Good Fairy Fairfuck or the Frig the Fuck and the Fairy
(Theatre Royal Olymprick [ London]: Private Reprint, MDCCCCV), pp. 49-52
46. Catalogue from Pleasure Bound Afloat. The Extraordinary Adventures of a
Party of Travellers, et leurs affaires galantes (Imprinted for the Members of
the Chatty Club. London: 1908)
47. Some Rare and Precious Second-Hand Books [ excerpts] (N.p. [ Paris:],
1903)
48. Excerpt from a Letter from Oscar Wilde to Reginald Turner, 10 August
1897
49. Excerpt from the unpublished manuscript of Dan Ryder (London
bookseller).
Part
5. Gynecocracy, 1893
Introduction
5.1. Literary Excerpts
50. Gynecocracy: A Narrative of the Adventures and Psychological Experiences
of Julian Robinson (Afterwards Viscount Ladywood) Under Petticoat Rule,
Written by Himself [ excerpts], 3 vols (London: Printed for Distribution
Amongst Private Subscribers Only: MDCCCXCIII), vol. I, pp. 87-91, vol. II,
pp. 1-18, 65-80
5.2. Illustrations for the French Adaptation of Gynecocracy
51. Illustrations by Martin van Maële for Jacques Desroix, La Gynécocratie ou
La Domination de la Femme (Paris: Charles Carrington, Libraire-Éditeur, 13,
Faubourg Montmartre, 13, MCMII).
5.3. Gynecocracy in Underground Book Catalogues
52. Entry for Gynecocracy from Catalogue of Rare Curious and Voluptuous
Reading,
1901.
5.4. Flagellation and Submission in Pornographic Literature
53. The Petticoat Dominant or Womans Revenge. The Autobiography of a Young
Nobleman as a Pendant to Gynecocracy, by Le Comte du Bouleau [ excerpt](Paris
and New-York: 1898), pp. 127-72
54. The Yellow Room or, Alice Darvells Subjection. A Tale of the Birch. By
M. Le Comte du Bouleau [ excerpt] (London [ Paris]: Privately Printed, 1891
[ c.1902] ), pp. 98-132
5.5. Corsets for Men in Magazines
55. To the Editor of Society, Society, September 16
1899.
56. To the Editor of Society, Society, September 23
1899.
57. Corsets for Men, Society, September 23
1899.
58. Madame Dowding Advertisement, Society, November 18
1899.
59. To the Editor of Society, Society, April 21,1900.
Part
6. My Secret Life, 1888-1894
Introduction
6.1. Literary Excerpts
60. My Secret Life, [ excerpts], 11 vols (Amsterdam: Not for publication,
[ 1888-1894]), vol.
1. pp. 5-14, 220-41, vol.
2. pp. 267-77, vol.
8. pp.
33-61, vol.
3. pp. 28-30, vol.
5. pp. 53-8, vol.
7. pp. 366-69, vol.
9. pp.
262, vol.
11. Pp. 141-42
6.2. Prospectus and Underground Book Catalogues for My Secret Life
61. Prospectus for My Secret Life or The modern Casanova
62. Entry from Catalogue of Rare and Curious English Books
63. Entry on The Dawn of Sensuality from List of Rare and Curious Books
6.3. Early Reception of My Secret Life
64. Excerpt on My Secret Life in Forbidden Books. Notes and Gossip on Tabooed
Literature. By an Old Bibliophile (Paris: For the Authors and His Friends,
1902).
65. Excerpt from Charles Reginald Dawes, A Study of Erotic Literature in
England. Considered with Especial Reference to Social Life (Gotheringon,
Cheltenham: [ Unpublished] 1943)
6.4. Underground Dealers: Auguste Brancart, Bookseller and Publisher
Brancarts Title Pages for Pornographic Books in English
66. Title page for The Power of Mesmerism. A Highly Erotic Narrative of
Voluptuous Facts and Fancies (Moscow: Printed for the Nihilists, 1891).
67. Title page for The Yellow Room or, Alice Darvells Subjection. A Tale of
the Birch by M. Le Comte du Bouleau (London: Privately Printed, 1891).
68. Title page for The Bagnio Miscellany. Containing the Adventures of Miss
Lais Lovecock Written by Herself (London: Printed for the Bibliopolists,
1892).
Brancarts Underground Book Flyers
69. By the Same Publisher, in The Bagnio Miscellany. Containing the
Adventures of Miss Lais Lovecock Written by Herself (London: Printed for the
Bibliopolists, 1892)
70. Latest Novelties
71. Brancarts Newspaper Advertisements in British and French Newspapers
The Illustrated London News, 20 September 1890, p.
381.
Gil Blas, 6 September 1891, p.
4.
Gil Blas, 3 October 1891, p.
4.
The American Register, 11 April 1891, p.
3.
Gil Blas illustré, 2 October 1892, p.
7.
La Démocratie du Cher, 17 October 1892, p.
4.
The Anglo-American Times, 21 October 1892, p.
1.
La Lanterne, 2 November 1893, p.
4.
La Lanterne, 11 October 1894, p.
4.
Truth, 19 May 1892, pp. 1043-4.
Brancarts Associates Under Surveillance
72. Excerpt from Rapport Affaire Hurt et Maheu, 23 April 1890
73. Excerpt from the investigating judges report, 19 June 1890
74. Ouvrages en Anglais
Part
7. Pauline, The Prima Donna, 1898
Introduction
7.1. Literary Excerpts
75. Pauline, The Prima Donna; or, Memoirs of an Opera Singer [ excerpts],
(Printed for the Erotica Biblion Society of London and New-York [ Paris],
1898), pp. 79-116, 167-86
7.2. Pauline, The Prima Donna in Underground Book Catalogues
76. Entry in Bibliotheca Arcana, Being a Rough List of Rare, Curious and
Uncommon Books, Pamphlets, Prints, & Engravings (London: MDCCCXCIX)
77. Entry in Publications of the Erotica Biblion Society
78. Entry in Catalogue of English Books 1902 - Paris -
190.
7.3. Underground Dealers: Jules Eugène Gauché and Angélina Leboucher,
Publishers and Printers
79. Title page for Pauline, The Prima Donna; or, Memoirs of an Opera Singer
(Printed for the Erotica Biblion Society of London and New-York [ Paris],
1898)
80. Title page for The Horn Book. A Girls Guide to the Knowledge of Good and
Evil (Printed for the Erotica Biblion Society of London and New-York [ Paris],
1899)
81. Title page for Memoirs of a Russian Princess (London [ Paris]. Privately
Printed (Not to be sold], 1906)
82. Title page for Les onze mille verges. Par G A (Paris: En ventes chez
tous les Libraires, [ c.1907]),
83. Excerpts from Publications of the Erotica Biblion Society
84. Entry on Odor di Femina from the proofs for Guillaume Apollinaire,
Fernand Fleuret, and Louis Perceau, LEnfer de la Bibliothèque nationale,
icono-bio-bibliographie de tous les ouvrages composant cette célèbre
collection (Paris: Mercure de France, 1913)
Part
8. Crissie, 1899
Introduction
8.1. Literary Excerpts
85. Crissie A Music-Hall Sketch of To-Day [ extracts], (The Alhambra [ Paris]:
1899), pp. 55-65, 133-54.
8.2. Crissie in Underground Book Catalogues
86. Entry from Catalogue of Rare Curious and Voluptuous Reading, 1901
8.3. Early Reception of Crissie
87. Discussion of Crissie in Forbidden Books. Notes and Gossip on Tabooed
Literature. By an Old Bibliophile (Paris: For the Authors and His Friends,
1902), pp. 110-12.
8.4. Newspaper and Magazine Coverage of Londons Music Halls
88. The Social Purity Partys Objection to Music-Hall Licences, The
Illustrated Police News, 24 October 24 1896, p.
6.
89. The Need for Improved Music-Halls, Hearth & Home, 20 October 1898, p.
882.
90. Licensing at Clerkenwell, The Era, 12 November 1898, p.
21.
Part
9. Suburban Souls, 1901
Introduction
9.1. Literary Excerpts
91. Suburban Souls. The Erotic Psychology of a Man and a Maid [ excerpts]
(Paris: Printed for Private Distribution amongst Private Subscribers Only:
1901).
9.2. Early Reception of Suburban Souls
92. Forbidden Books. Notes and Gossip on Tabooed Literature by an Old
Bibliophile [ excerpt] (Paris: For the Author and His Friends, 1902), pp.
121-36
9.3. Underground Dealers: Charles Carrington, Bookseller and Publisher
Carringtons Advertisements and Flyers
93. Private Literature, Society, 6 May 1899, p.
1467.
94. Bibliographie de la France, 7 April 1900, p.
875.
95. Very rare and very curious English Books, in Charles Sackville, Two
Lascivious Adventures of Mr Howard. A continuation of Maud Cameron and her
Guardian (London [ Paris]: Printed for Subscribers Only, MCMVII).
Carringtons Defence of Forbidden Books
96. Preface, Forbidden Books. Notes and Gossip on Tabooed Literature by an
Old Bibliophile (Paris: For the Author and His Friends, 1902), pp. ix-xii
Contemporary Impressions of Carrington
97. Letter from Oscar Wilde to Leonard Smithers, 12 August 1898
98. Excerpt from Gustave le Rouge, Verlainiens et décadents: Souvenirs
inédits (Paris: Editions Marcel Seheur, 1928), p.
230.
Carrington Prosecuted and Deported
99. For Translating Arabic, News York Herald (European Edition), 9 October
1901, p.
1.
100. Mr. Carrington Explains, News York Herald (European Edition), 14
October 1901, p.
5.
101. Excerpt from a Letter from Charles Carrington to Anatole France, 16
December 1907
102. Excerpt from Chief Inspector Edward Drews testimony about advertising
from pornographic dealers published in the Report from the Joint Select
Committee on Lotteries and Indecent Advertisements, Together with the
Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendices (London: HM
Stationery Office, 1908), pp. 39-40.
103. Seized letters from Carrington in 1911 relating to his mail confiscated
by the British Post Office
Printed letter from Charles Carrington to his customers, June
1911.
A note written in Carringtons hand at the back of the above letter, dated
June 10,
1911.
Letter from Charles Carrington to Reginald McKenna , 11 December,
1911.
Part
10. The Initiation of Aurora Trill, 1903
Introduction
10.1. Literary Excerpts
104. The Initiation of Aurora Trill [ excerpts] (London [ Paris]: 1903), pp.
7-18, 114-23
105. A Nocturnal Meeting. By Ramrod [ excerpt] (International Publishing
Office: London - New York - Paris, [ c.1911]), pp. 119-28
10.2. Hirschs Underground Book Catalogue
106. A Short List of Amusing English Books. Privately printed.
10.3. Bibliographical Entries on The Initiation of Aurora Trill
107. Entry on The Initiation of Aurora Trill from the published version and
the proofs of Guillaume Apollinaire, Fernand Fleuret, and Louis Perceau,
LEnfer de la Bibliothèque nationale, icono-bio-bibliographie de tous les
ouvrages composant cette célèbre collection (Paris: Mercure de France,
1913).
10.4. Underground Dealers: Charles Hirsch, Bookseller and Publisher
Hirschs London and Paris Bookshops
108. Booksellers Windows [ excerpt], The Academy, 3 April 1897, p.
383.
109. Charles Reginald Dawes, A Study of Erotic Literature in England.
Considered with Especial Reference to Social Life [ excerpt] (Gotheringon,
Cheltenham: [ Unpublished] 1943)
Hirsch Prosecuted and Imprisoned
London, 1898-1899
110. A Booksellers Photographs, Reynoldss Newspaper, 27 November 1898, p.
4.
111. The Sale of Indecent Publications, St. Jamess Gazette, 27 January
1899, p.
10.
112. County of London Sessions, The Times, 2 March 2 1899, p. 13-14.
113. County of London Sessions, The Times, 2 March 10 1899, p.
3.
Paris, 1912
114. La chasse à la pornographie, Gil Blas, 15 February 1912, p.
2.
115. Arrestation dun libraire, Gil Blas, 16 February 1912, p.
3.
Part
11. Aleister Crowley, White Stains (1898) and Snowdrops from a Curates
Garden (c.1904)
Introduction
11.1. Literary Excerpts from White Stains
116. White Stains. The Literary Remains of George Archibald Bishop A
Neuropath of the Second Empire [ excerpts]([ N.p.]: 1898), pp. 58-65, 78-80,
122-23
11.2. Early Reception of White Stains
117. Forbidden Books. Notes and Gossip on Tabooed Literature by an Old
Bibliophile [ excerpt] (Paris: For the Author and His Friends, 1902), pp.
45-48
11.3. Literary Excerpts from Snowdrops from a Curates Garden
118. Snowdrops from a Curates Garden [ excerpts] (1881 A.D. Cosmopoli,
Imprimé sous le manteau et ne se vend nulle part), pp. 1-13, 113-19, 157-8,
11.4. Aleister Crowleys Confessions
119. Excerpt from Aleister Crowley, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. An
Autohagiography. Eds. John Symonds and Kenneth Grant (London: Jonathan Cape,
1969), pp. 410-3.
120. Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, compiled and edited by John S.
Farmer and W. E. Henley, 7 vols, [ excerpts] (Printed for Subscribers Only,
1890-1904).
Index
Colette Colligan is Professor of English at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Her recent work on pornographic writing has appeared in Victorian Studies, Book History, Histoires Littéraires, and the Cambridge Companion to Erotic Literature.
