Rare Erotica

Paul-Emile Becat

2006-11-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

All illustrations by Paul-Émile Bécat (1885-1960). The first 3 are from Le vie des dames galantes by Pierre de Brantôme (Paris, 1957), being auctioned on eBay here. The bottom 2 are from Le pied fourchu by René Boylesve (Paris, 1959), being auctioned on eBay here.

S. Sauvage

2006-10-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

woodcut by S. Sauvage, 1924

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 3 (Vienna, 1930).

Karel Formánek

2006-10-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Up for auction on eBay is a supremely rare limited edition of nude prints. The seller explains: "Roughly titled 'The Cycle of Life' [Cyklus zivota], this is a lovely portfolio containing (10) wonderful original woodblock prints of art deco-inspired female nudes done by the artist Karel Forman, and issued in an edition of 200 examples by his friend Jiri Jicha in Brunn, Mo.ravia in the first years of the Second World War. A work which is precisely evocative of the time and place of its origin, --Central Europe in this period was awash with artists and book-binders ready to cooperate to produce small regionally-published singed and limited editions of considerable beauty. This is example 58 of 200 issued claimed issued, though especially during the war, runs of works like this were often left unfinished for lack of materials." (Although the seller gives the artist's surname as Forman, it appears to be Formánek on the cover.)

The auction is here.

Le Diable au Corps

2006-10-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

From an 1803 edition of Le Diable au Corps [The Devil in the Flesh] by André Robert de Nerciat. Earlier Diable postings are here and here.

Albert Arthur Allen

2006-10-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

Scan of an original silver print by Albert Arthur Allen, who photographed primarily nudes in San Francisco from 1915 to 1930. It's being auctioned on eBay here.

Perino del Vaga

2006-10-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Gioue in Satyro by Perino del Vaga (1501-1547).

Previous Perino is here.

Franz von Bayros

2006-10-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

Originally published in Das schöne Mädchen von Pao (1910), a collection of seven drawings by Franz von Bayros. Another Bayros is here.

Gerhard Riebcke

2006-10-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

A seller on eBay is offering an original print of this work from German photographer Gerhard Riebcke (1878-1957). The auction is here. More nudes from Riebcke are here.

Update on "Old Art Still Upsetting Americans"

2006-10-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has picked up the story of the Texas teacher who lost her job because her students saw a nude statue at a museum. (I discussed this here last week.)

The jury is still out on just which statue was spied by the fifth-graders, but suspects include the classical Greek young man, The Shade by Rodin, Flora by Aristide Maillol, and Star in a Dream by Jean Arp.

(As always in cases where the media covers a person who has been fired, demoted, or otherwise punished for a stupid reason, the employer is claiming that the reason wasn't really the reason. There were other "performance concerns," despite the fact that the teacher in question got wonderful job evaluations right up until the museum field trip.)

Erich Godal

2006-10-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

by Erich Godal (1899-1969)

Erich (sometimes Eric) Godal drew this title page for Aus den erinnerungen eines detektivs (From the Memories of a Detective). Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931).

After Gilbert James

2006-09-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

After Gilbert James, 1905

Scanned from Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius (New York, 1905).

Old Art Still Upsetting Americans

2006-09-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

A couple of news items this week demonstrate that US simply can’t outrun its Puritan heritage.

First, we find out that centuries-old artwork still can’t be shown on TV, for fear of triggering $325,000 penalties. The New York Observer reports that PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) is bleeping profanity or cutting scenes entirely from two documentaries about war. Apparently, the fact that soldiers use swear words is too much for our delicate psyches.

The part that intersects with Rare Erotica comes on the article’s second page:

"Earlier this fall, [PBS] producers removed a shot of sexually suggestive 18th-century engravings from a documentary about Marie Antoinette. That was not enough. According to the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain PBS, and other affiliates, refused to carry the documentary this week. Some will air the show at a later date—and time."

The Denver Post article mentioned above paraphrases the general manager of Rocky Mountain PBS saying that “the questionable scenes were 200-year-old pencil drawings of nude couples having sex and ‘a very specific’ discussion of Louis VXI's apparent impotency.”

Two hundred years ago would be the early 1800s. Considering that Antoinette was executed in 1793, it seems more likely that the program included erotic art created in the 1700s in order to show France’s social milieu during her lifetime. But regardless of whether the images in question were 200-year-old drawings or 18th-century engravings, they were excised from the documentary.

The second ridiculous incident comes to us from Texas. The NBC affiliate’s headline summarizes it nicely: “Art Teacher Loses Job After Kids See Nude Sculpture.” Yes, some poor teacher foolishly took a bunch of fifth-graders to the Dallas Museum of Art. The field trip was authorized by the school, and the parents naively signed permission slips allowing their little innocents to visit this den of iniquity. While there, at least some of the kids saw a nude statue. Apparently, the parent of one child complained, and the teacher is now out of a job.

The article doesn’t mention which statue was seen, but a quick look at the museum’s website reveals two possibilities: a 2^nd-century Indian fertility figure and a classical Greek sculpture of a young man. There are assuredly others.

I wonder if it’s even possible to go into an art museum and not see nudes. From the cave art of prehistory to the 21^st century, the unclothed human body has been a constant subject of sculpture, painting, and other forms of art. Look at any basic art-history textbook, and you’ll be bombarded with naked people. It’s a good thing the kids weren’t at the Louvre, or they might’ve been psychologically scarred for life by the Venus de Milo or Michelangelo’s David.

Welcome to the new Victorian era.

Le Journal

2006-09-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

"Harem Punishment" from Le Journal, 1889

Scanned from Sittengeschichte des Weltkrieges (Leipzig & Vienna, 1930).

Ralph M. Hattersley, Jr.

2006-09-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

From the series "Black & White in Color" (1962) by Ralph M Hattersley, Jr.

In July, Ralph Ginzburg passed away. He wore many hats, but he's best known for creating and publishing the beautiful hardcover magazine EROS in 1961-2, and for going to prison because of it. The feds, under Robert Kennedy's direction, couldn't make obscenity charges stick against the tame, tasteful magazine, plus a sex-related newsletter and book that Ginzburg published, but they did nail him on the way he advertised these publications (supposedly appealing to people's prurient interests). The Supreme Court let the silly verdict stand, and Ginzburg did 8 months in federal prison.

It's agreed by all observers that what really sealed Ginzburg's fate was a photo-spread in the fourth, final issue of EROS: "Black & White in Color: A Photographic Tone Poem" by Ralph M. Hattersley, Jr., a respected photographer and professor who wrote over a dozen instructional photography books. (Hattersley passed away in 2000.) The photos are extraordinarily tame by today's standards - there's no sex, and the only "naughty bits" on display are the woman's breasts and both booties in one sideview shot. But showing a black man and a white woman, in the nude, embracing, kissing, obviously getting ready to do the deed - well, it was just too shocking in the early 1960s. Ginzburg was made to pay.

Two of the 16 photos in the series are above, and 3 more can been seen a little over halfway down this page.

K. Weyrer

2006-09-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

by K. Weyrer

An illustration for the 1909 novel Comtesse Marga. Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 3 (Vienna, 1930).

Perino del Vaga

2006-09-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

Apollo di Hyacintho by Perino del Vaga (1501-1547)

Franz von Bayros

2006-09-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

Originally published in Sittenbilder unserer Zeit (1911), a collection of ten drawings by Franz von Bayros. Another von Bayros here.

M.E. Philipp

2006-09-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Heisser Tag [Hot Day] by M.E. Philipp

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931).

Andre Rouveyre

2006-09-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Evoe! by Andre Rouveyre (1879-1962)

Karl Hofer

2006-09-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

Girls by Karl Hofer (1878-1955)

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 3 (Vienna, 1930).

anonymous photo, 1920s

2006-09-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

Another lovely piece of forgotten erotica, a large photo (7x10 inches) from the 1920s, up for bid on eBay here.

anonymous photo, 1940s or 50s

2006-09-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

A seller on eBay has listed a bunch of nude photos from the 1940s and 1950s, including this fine specimen. (The auction is here.) Love the vaccination scar!

Felicien Rops

2006-09-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

Impudeur [Shamelessness] by Félicien Rops (1833-1898)
from Félicien Rops: L'Homme et L'artiste (Paris, 1908)

Ealier Rops here and here.

Michel Fingesten

2006-09-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Virgo immaculata by Michel Fingesten (1884-1943)

Ekstase by Michel Fingesten

Both images scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 3 (Vienna, 1930).

A. Dertrin

2006-09-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

by A. Dertrin

Scanned from Sittengeschichte des Weltkrieges (Leipzig & Vienna, 1930).

Isoda Koryusai

2006-08-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

by Isoda Koryusai (1735-1790)

Eric Gill

2006-08-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

Lovers (1924) by Eric Gill

Perhaps my favorite overlooked erotic artist, Eric Gill also created the typeface Gill Sans, which most likely came preloaded on your computer. Previous postings of Gill's work are here and here.

del Giglio?

2006-08-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

This is an illustration for Education Anglaise by Lord Kidrodstock. I believe it's from the original 1908 edition, which was illustrated by del Giglio. Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931).

Arthur Rackham

2006-08-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

The Sphinx (c. 1895) by Arthur Rackham (best known as a children's-book illustrator)

Gerard Vidal

2006-08-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Jupiter et Io (c. 1779) by Gérard Vidal (1742-1804)

The story of Jupiter (Zeus) and Io is recounted here.

Nandor Kora-Korber

2006-08-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

by Nándor Kóra-Körber, 1925

From Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931).

Henry Fuseli

2006-08-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

By Henry Fuseli, circa 1810-20

Henry (sometimes Henri) Fuseli's best known work is undoubtedly The Nightmare [here], c. 1782. Much later in his life, which spanned 1741-1825, he created this much more pleasant image.

Nymph and Faun Sculpture

2006-08-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

Sculpture of a nymph and faun. Unfortunately, I can't remember which book I scanned this from, so I don't have more info.

Italy/Ethiopia, 1930s

2006-08-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

This postcard is up for auction on eBay. The seller writes: "1930's Vintage (not a reproduction) Italian plain back photo postcard featuring a very beautiful young woman. This is the type of postcard that were particularly popular with Italian soldiers during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia." Auction is here.

Le Diable au Corps

2006-08-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

From an 1803 edition of Le Diable au Corps [The Devil in the Flesh] by André Robert de Nerciat.

Bicycles Built for Two

2006-08-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

Love on a Bicycle by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)

by Antoine Borel, for the 1787 edition of L'Arétin François by François-Félix Nogaret

Raphael

2006-07-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Sketch by Raphael (1483-1520)

Antoine Borel

2006-07-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

by Antoine Borel, for the 1787 edition of L'Arétin François by François-Félix Nogaret

Thomas Rowlandson

2006-07-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

The Willing Fare, or Anyway to Please by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)

Pre-Columbian statues from Vern Bullough's collection

2006-07-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

The world recently lost two of its greatest sexologists: Vern Bullough (died June 21) and John Money (July 7). Bullough and his deceased wife had an impressive collection of erotic statues and figures. His estate will donate the collection to a museum or university or will sell it to a private collector. Photos of two of the pieces are above. This page at Bullough's website has more information, including a PDF showing the entire collection. If you're interested in obtaining them, better hurry!

Prague Bible: "Odruinovaci kura p. Sary Abeles" 2

2006-07-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a page from one of the extremely rare "Prague bibles" I own. Another page from this century-old booklet is here.

Franz Christophe

2006-07-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

by Franz Christophe (1875-1946)

Otto Schoff

2006-07-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

From the series Allerlei Liebesspiele (All Sorts of Love Games) by Otto Schoff (1888-1938)

Federico Fellini

2006-06-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

Federico Fellini is widely considered to be one of the greatest directors ever, but until I saw this entry on BiblioOdyssey, I didn't realize that he also drew. Following their link to the Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio's search page, I pulled up some of Fellini's sex-related drawings, filled with zaftig women and disembodied penises. Two are above, and there are around 20 others.

anonymous, 1803

2006-06-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

From an 1803 edition of Le Diable au Corps [The Devil in the Flesh] by André Robert de Nerciat.

Gustav Klimt

2006-06-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

A painting by Gusav Klimt (1862-1918), Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (left), recently sold at auction for $135 million, the most ever paid for a painting (easily topping the amounts paid for works by van Gogh, Renoir, and Picasso).

In honor of this event, Rare Erotica is posting a seldom seen work by Klimt, one of several such sketches from circa 1915. I just love the fact that the creator of the most expensive painting of all time also drew gynecologically explicit images of women masturbating and otherwise spreading their legs at the viewer. Someone should put these images - not just his Secessionist paintings - on calendars and coffee mugs.

Christian Ludwig Martin

2006-06-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

by Christian Ludwig Martin (1890-1967)

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931).

Franz Kuna

2006-06-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

bookplate by Franz Kuna (1881-1943)

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931).

Antonio Canova

2006-06-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Reclining Male Nude (c. 1780) by Antonio Canova

Italian Neoclassicist Antonio Canova is most famous as a sculptor whose masterworks include The Three Graces and Psyche Revived By Cupid's Kiss. The Catholic Enyclopedia calls him "the greatest Italian sculptor of modern times."

Luc-Albert Moreau

2006-06-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

The source for this image, Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 3 (Vienna, 1930), gives the artist as Albert Moreau, but - based on the style - I'm pretty sure it's Luc-Albert Moreau (1882-1948).

Laszlo Boris

2006-05-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

From Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 3 (Vienna, 1930). An earlier posting from the now-forgotten Laszlo Boris is here.

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem

2006-05-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

by Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem (1562-1638)

Scanned from Sittengeschichte der Liebkosung und Strafe (Vienna & Leipzig, 1928).

Reb

2006-05-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

Heimkehr des Soldaten [Soldier's Homecoming] by "Reb"

Scanned from Sittengeschichte des Weltkrieges (Leipzig & Vienna, 1930)

Walter Klemm

2006-05-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Lithograph by Walter Klemm (1883-1957) for 1,001 Nights

Gustav Klimt

2006-05-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

Nackte Schwangere Frau [Nude Pregnant Woman] by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

Raphael Kirchner

2006-05-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

The Magentic Pole by Raphael Kirchner (1876-1917)

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931). A previous work from Kirchner is here.

Vala Moro

2006-05-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

Die Zigarette by Vala Moro

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931). Previous image from Moro here.

Hans Heise

2006-05-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

by Hans Heise

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 3 (Vienna, 1930).

anonymous, 1795

2006-05-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Scanned from Geschichte der Erotischen Kunst, Vol. 3 by Eduard Fuchs (Munich, 1923).

Achille Devéria

2006-04-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

The Harem by Achille Devéria (1800-1857)

Update: Reader J.H. points out that this is the work of Achille Devéria, not his brother Eugène Devéria, as I had originally indicated.

Efwe Ornikleios

2006-04-23T23:05:00.001-07:00

The Bird of Paradise by Efwe Ornikleios

I'm drawing a total blank when it comes to info on Ornikleios. He (?) appears to be a mystery. This was scanned from Geschichte der Erotischen Kunst, Vol. 3 by Eduard Fuchs (Munich, 1923).

André Lambert

2006-04-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

La Fierté [Pride] (1917) by André Lambert

From Geschichte der Erotischen Kunst, Vol. 3 by Eduard Fuchs (Munich, 1923)

Utagawa Kunisada

2006-04-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

By Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), a rare example of bisexual erotic art.

Max Brüning

2006-04-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Am Kamin [At the Fireplace] by Max Brüning (1887-1968)

From Geschichte der Erotischen Kunst, Vol. 3 by Eduard Fuchs (Munich, 1923)

Hans Bellmer

2006-04-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Another drawing by Surrealist Hans Bellmer from his 1957 book Kleine Anatomie.... Previous Bellmer drawings here.

Thomas Theodor Heine

2006-04-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

untitled illustration by Thomas Theodor Heine for a 1908 edition of Judith by Friedrich Hebbel

Otto Dix

2006-04-06T16:13:00.000-07:00

Another 1914 sketch by the great German Expressionist Otto Dix. Other early sketches from Dix are here.

L. Gedö

2006-04-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

by L. Gedö

Scanned from Sittengeschichte des Weltkrieges (Leipzig & Vienna, 1930).

Japan, 1820

2006-04-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

unknown Japanese artist (circa 1820)

Scanned from Das Geschlechts Leben des Japanischen Volkes by Friedrich S. Krauss (Hanau, Germany, 1965). (Originally published as Das Geschlechtleben der Japaner (Leipzig, 1911)).

Franz von Stuck

2006-03-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

Sensuality (1891) by Franz von Stuck

Ernst Stohr

2006-03-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

untitled (1900) by Ernst Stohr

Originally published in Ver Sacrum, the magazine of the Vienna Secession. The Rough Guide to Austria describes the little-known Ernst Stohr as "a local [Vienna] artist, poet and musician who was one of the chief ideologues of the Secession movement."

Raphael Kirchner

2006-03-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Betrachtung by Raphael Kirchner (1876-1917)

Betrachtung is a German word that can be translated several ways: contemplation, inspection, reflection, consideration, meditation. This image appeared in Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931).

Salvador Rivera Castillo

2006-03-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

untitled by Salvador Rivera Castillo

Published in El Amor en Línea y Letra (Chiapas, Mexico, 1999).

Henri Gervex

2006-03-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

Le Bain [The Bath] (1894) by Henri Gervex

Xavier Sager

2006-03-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

The Big Number by Xavier Sager (1870-1930)

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

2006-03-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

In The Libertine, Johnny Depp portrays John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, the seventeenth-century nobleman whose life and poetry reflected his insatiable horniness and contempt for all authority. When the film opened in limited engagements last November, I posted a snippet of Wilmot's play, Sodom, here.

Now that it's in nationwide release, here's a portion of Wilmot's poem "The Imperfect Enjoyment." In this poem, Wilmot is getting frisky with Corinna, but he gets so excited by her touch that he comes on her before they've had intercourse. To his amazement, he's not able to get it up again. In this last portion of the poem, Wilmot viciously berates his uncooperative prick:

Worst part of me and henceforth hated most,
Through all the Town a Common Fucking Post,
On whom each Whore Relieves her tingling Cunt
As Hoggs on Gates doe rubb themselves and grunt,
Mayest thou to Ravenous Shankers be a prey
Or in Consumeing weepings wast away;
May strangury and stone thy daies attend;
Mayest though nere piss who didst Refuse to spend
When all my Joyes did on false Thee depend.
And may Ten Thousand abler Pricks agree
To doe the wrong'd Corinna Right for Thee.

From The Works of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (Oxford University Press, 1999).

Cuban cigar cards

2006-03-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

From my collection, these are small photo-cards that came with Cuban cigars. The cards are from two companies, one of which - Trinidad y Hno - put nothing on the back of its cards. The cards from the other company - Gener - have backs like the one shown in the final image.

Prague Bible: "Salon - Md. Dvorak"

2006-03-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a page from another supremely rare Prague bible (my name for Tijuana Bible-like booklets from the Czech lands prior to WWI). In "Salon - Md. Dvorak," a gentleman is entertained by several women at a posh brothel.

Pages from other Prague bibles are here, here, and here.

Flu

2006-03-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no erotica this week - I'm down with the flu. I'll start posting again on Monday (March 6).

Helfenbein

2006-02-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

by Walter Helfenbein (1893-1984)

Scanned from Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 3 (Vienna, 1930).

Alastair

2006-02-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

The Riding Crop (1905) by Alastair

Albert Pénot

2006-02-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

Bat-Woman (circa 1890) by Albert Pénot

Caldron ad, 1980

2006-02-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

A 1980 ad for the Caldron, a San Francisco club for men into watersports, which closed in 1984. Scanned from the sexzine Black Sheets, issue 12 (1997), which reprinted it as part of Bill Brent's epic article "Queer American Pie."

Jean Delville

2006-02-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Idol of Perversity (1891) by Jean Delville

photo: 1940s or earlier

2006-02-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is another photo that was pasted into an old scrapbook of erotic material I bought last year. The scrapbook was assembled in the 1940s, so this photo is from that decade or earlier.

Previous photos are here and here.

F. Christophe

2006-02-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

From Bilder-Lexicon der Erotik, Vol. 4 (Vienna, 1931)

Early Images of Strap-on Dildos

2006-02-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that dildos have been around since ancient times, but what about when a person, typically a woman, wears one in order to penetrate her partner? How long have strap-on dildos existed? I've never seen any information about their history, but a couple of images provide clues.

The photo above is contained in a collection of antique hardcore photos, Opas Porno Atlas (Leinburg, 1991). Three of the pictures show women with strap-ons penetrating other women. The photo above looks to be the oldest. As the book's text is completely in German, I can't get any background info, but I'd guess that this one is from around 1900, give or take 20 years.

This drawing is a panel from the Tijuana bible "Betty Co-Ed" (as reproduced in Tijuana Bibles by Bob Adelman). We see Peg wielding a strap-on as her dormmate Betty moans, "Come on push that dildoe right now." This bible is probably from the 1930s.

Other early sightings of strap-ons are welcome.....

Prague Bible: "Odruinovaci kura p. Sary Abeles"

2006-02-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a page from a third extremely rare "Prague bible" (my name for hardcore erotic booklets sold underground in the Czech lands prior to WWI). I believe the title of this one is "Odruinovaci kura p. Sary Abeles," but I'm not sure if that's exactly right, given the fading of the text, the stylized handwriting, and the fact that I know zero Czech.

In this 10-page publication, a doctor of some sort has a zaftig woman show her vagina to a roomful of inquisitive medical men during a lecture on female anatomy. Several of them then take turns pleasuring their lab model.

I haven't touched up this image in order to show what these booklets look like after a century.

Previous postings from other Prague bibles are here and here.

photo: The Martinis

2006-02-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

My source for this photo is Eros in La Belle Epoque by Patrick Waldberg (Grove Press, 1969), which examines the sexual culture of France from 1880 to 1910. Like most of the illustrations in the book, this one is not mentioned in the text itself. The caption reads: "The Martinis, the naked skaters at the rink."

Googling "the martinis" along with "ice skating" or "figure skating" didn't lead to any more info. Does anyone know about the naked skating Martinis?

Kuhn-Régnier

2006-02-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

Meer Peitschen [Sea Whip] by Kuhn-Regnier

Update [13 Feb 06]: Several readers - J.H., E.T., and Stanley from Sexoteric - have kindly written to explain this image. The sea was whipped on the orders of the Persian Emperor Xerxes; the full story is here.

My source for this image, Sittengeschichte der Liebkosung und Strafe (Vienna & Leipzig, 1928), gives the artist as "Kuhn-Regnier, Paris." I'm pretty sure that this is Joseph Kuhn-Régnier, who illustrated numerous books. At least one was erotic (an edition of Songs of Bilitis), and others were collections of "tales and legends" of Rome, Japan, Israel, Spain, and elsewhere. I'd love to know what the hell is going on in this image.

Gustav Klimt

2006-02-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

Women (1903) by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

Félix Vallotton

2006-02-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Knieder Akt, Kopf und Arme auf ein rotes Canape gelegt, auf blauem Teppich vor grauer Wand (1915) by Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)

Franz von Bayros

2006-02-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

by Franz von Bayros (1886-1924)

I believe this is the frontispiece for a 1906 edition of Fanny Hill, but I'm not positive.

Photo, c. 1890

2006-02-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

by an unknown photographer, circa 1890

"Prague Bible" with Nuns

2006-02-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

This is a page from an extremely rare "Prague bible" (which is my name for underground publications very similar to the Tijuana bibles of the US, except they come from the pre-WWI Czech lands).

This particular booklet doesn't have a title. It follows the exploits of a nun who masturbates and engages in twosomes and threesomes with other nuns and with a friar. It's a welcome addition to the surprisingly large, unofficial genre of erotic art, fiction, and movies involving sisters of perpetual horniness.

For an image from a different Prague bible, and more info about them, click here.

Lovis Corinth

2006-02-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

Female Nude in Bed by Lovis Corinth (1858-1925)

review: Medieval Welsh Erotic Poetry

2006-02-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

Medieval Welsh Erotic Poetry [Canu Maswedd yr Oesoedd Canol]
by Dafydd Johnston
Cardiff, Wales: TAFOL, 1991

I have to admit that I didn’t even realize there was such a thing as medieval Welsh erotic poetry until I read a reference to this book in another one. Upon tracking down this slim volume, I found some of the most explicit erotic poetry written during medieval times in any language, including French.

Dafydd Johnston, Ph.D. - head of the Welsh Department at the University of Wales, Swansea - has gathered and translated 30 of these extremely obscure gems, offering a little intro to each one and a longer overview of sexy Welsh verse from the 1300s to the early 1600s. (This is a bilingual book, with the full text in Welsh and English.)

Things kick off with “The Penis” by Dafydd ap Gwilym, considered one of Wales’ greatest poets, perhaps the greatest (that's a statue of him to the left). Gwilym sets up the poem as a complaint to his cock about the trouble it’s causing him, which cleverly allows him to brag about what a mighty tool he has. In the course of lamenting his “accursed pole” that “is difficult to keep under control” and “must be guarded,” Gwilym just happens to mention that, “You are longer than a big man’s thigh,” and, “You are scepter which causes lust.”

It’s only within the last 20-30 years that women have started creating erotic material in more than infinitesimal numbers, so it’s always a treat to find another woman of the old school, such as Gwerful Mechain, who wrote two of the poems here (and possibly part of a third). In “The Female Genitals” she upbraids male poets for dwelling on women’s physical beauty - describing the loveliness of various body parts - but skipping the vagina. She implores: “let songs about the quim circulate,” then heaps praise upon the pussy:

Sultan of an ode, it is silk,
little seam, curtain on a fine bright cunt,
flaps in a place of greeting,
the sour grove, it is full of love,
very proud forest, faultless gift,
...
lovely bush, God save it.

Think of it as The Vagina Monologues, circa 1480.

The unknown author of “Sexual Intercourse,” while writing about getting it on with a “shapely peasant woman” in the great outdoors, lauds his lover’s active role:

That girl was skilled
At thrusting with me under the trees;
She gave me, we were brave,
A blow for every blow,

In “The Cleric and the Virgin,” ‘Sir’ Dafydd Llwyd the Scholar tells the story of a man of the cloth who attempts to seduce the innocent daughter of a widow. The girl won’t do penis-in-vagina but she does offer her “barrel.” And what might that be, you ask? The next lines make it clear:

my sweetheart jumped, radiant bosom,
into bed and paid with her arse.

Now that she’s started, she can’t get enough:

The maid likes, fine noble brow,
a pipe to her arse every hour of the day.

Two of the bards represented dis each other in their spoken poems, kind of like 50 Cent and Ja Rule, except with a playful undertone that indicates they’re just ribbing each other. Dafydd ab Edmwnd ridicules the brawny Guto’r Glyn, who herniated himself during a stone-throwing competition. Among the many epithets Edmwnd hurls at Glyn’s swollen scrotum: “hairy coat around a ball of lead,” “a pound of wax,” “water pitcher weighing on the arse,” “purse of a former whoremonger’s crotch,” “a duck with a haunch down to its ankles,” “a hag’s rump as a big as a tub.”

Despite his condition, Glyn didn’t take the abuse lying down, although his comeback is a little hard to grasp. Apparently the next day, during festivities of some kind, he recited a poem about Edmwnd’s...extremely large penis: “oversized prick,” “a branch which went to tie the boot,” “a weapon like a whale.” Edmwnd was a short little guy, so the gibe seems to be that his schlong was way too big for his puny body:

You’re a puppy with a big prick,
a leg will break trying to carry it,

In the early part of the poem Glyn also says that Edmwnd can’t get it up, so at least that’s an unambiguous insult. Toward the end of the poem, Glyn hilariously suggests that they should combine his ballooned nutsac with Edmwnd’s humongous tool: “it would be the biggest groinful ever seen on a man.”

Reading sexy stuff from other times and cultures provides us with windows into different ways of viewing sex, and this book is no exception. Where we in the US might talk about sex as taking place between a woman’s legs or thighs, the poets here often refer to the knees. “None of the boys will help me out between my knees despite their beauty,” says “The Lusty Lass.” Interestingly, some of the turns of phrase treat the penis and testicles as an extension of the abdomen. Gwilym calls his prick “belly’s tuck-knife handle,” Glyn names it the “belly’s burden,” and Edmwnd refers to the scrotum as the “belly’s pack.”

One way some of the bards allude to penis-in-vagina intercourse is to talk of the man’s balls covering the woman’s asshole, an interesting way of referring to the act by the meeting of its secondary players.

Among the charming motifs on display is sex in the woods, under the birches on a bed of leaves. If the tree is a-shakin’, don’t come a-rakin’. One of the not-charming motifs is the forcing of comely maidens to have sex if they resist.

Published 15 years ago by a small press in Wales, this fantastic book obviously never got the attention it deserves. Besides being the only book to bring together and translate these scarce verses, it’s also the only book to contain English-language translations of most of the individual poems. You can find Dafydd ap Gwilym’s entire canon in English, but good luck finding the work of the other poets here. A copy should be on everyone’s shelf/s of erotica. If you’re reading only contemporary material, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Note: Amazon lists a revised edition published in 1999, but I haven’t seen this version.

Early Sex Machine Drawings

2006-01-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

Automated mechanical contraptions that provide pleasure have gotten a popularity boost lately thanks to the book Sex Machines by Timothy Archibald and the porn site Fuckingmachines.com. However, the concept - if not the actual devices - has been around for quite a while, as shown by the images below. (And I wouldn't be surprised if there are even earlier examples to be found.)

The above is a page from the Tijuana bible "Bellyhoo." (Scanned from the book Tijuana Bibles by Bob Adelman, since I don't have a copy of this particular bible.) It seems likely that this is from the 1930s, since Ballyhoo, which is being parodied, was a popular humor magazine published from 1931-39, and the heyday of the Tijuana bible was the 1930s.

This is a piece of printed ephemera pasted in a WWII-era scrapbook I purchased. (Thus, this scan is from an original specimen.) At the absolute latest, it's from the early/mid 1940s. And yes, the name of the machine is several degrees beyond tasteless.

[As always, you can click on any image on Rare Erotica to see a larger version.]

Sir John Lindsay

2006-01-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

The Witches' Sabbath (1898) by Sir John Lindsay

Want List

2006-01-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

If you have information about where to locate any of the following works, please let me know:

** "La Soeur de la Reine" by Algernon Charles Swinburne (left)
** "La Fille du Policeman" by Algernon Charles Swinburne
** Any flagellation poems by Algernon Charles Swinburne other than those in The Whippingham Papers and The Pearl.
** Any unpublished erotic work by Pierre Louÿs

I'm also interested in getting a copy of each of the following works. If you'd be willing to let me borrow yours, will sell it for less than the typical asking price, or know where I can get a copy cheap, please get in touch.

** Die Erotik in der Photographie (1931)
** Fuck Journal by Bob Flanagan
** Alice by Aleister Crowley
** Any books by Ralph Chubb or Arthur Lyon Raile (Edward Perry Warren)
** Autoerotic Fatalities by Robert R. Hazelwood, Park Elliott Dietz, and Ann Wolbert Burgess
** Korean Sex Jokes in Traditional Times by Howard S. Levy