Erotica

Paris: Jouaust / Librairie des Bibliophiles, 1880. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A very fine full crushed morocco with gilt raised bands, delicate gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt top edges. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. With all the original fine engravings reprinted. Following the pattern of Bocaccio's Decameron, Marguerite of Navarre intended to write 100 tales but died after completing 72, into the 8th day. Many of the stories deal with love, lust, infidelity, and other romantic and sexual matters. A very fine set of these 16th century tales in the original French.

Privately Printed For Subscribers Only, 1897. 5 volume set, 9 inches tall. A beautiful half morocco binding in the Art Nouveau style by Zaehnsdorf with one raised band, the titles in a floral cartouche above and a superb floral design below. Gilt top edges. The corners are slightly bumped and the cloth boards a little rubbed and marked. This comprehensive and extraordinary collection of songs and ballads popular before 1800 is privately printed for subscribers to allow some bawdy and explicit material to be included. A superb set finely printed on handmade paper.

Paris: Hardouin, 1784. 2 volume set, 5 inches tall. A very simple yet good looking full calf with gilt bands, twin olive labels and tiny floral centre tools. All edges gilt. With the bookseller's ticket 'Vendu par DETREZ Libraire, place Sorbonne, No 4 a Paris'. The first volume consists of 'Poésies érotiques' and 'Voyage', the second volume of 'La journée champêtre', 'Le promontroire de Leucade', Les fleurs', and 'Mélange'. With exquisite engraved plates.

Paris: Chez Ambroise Tardieu, 1821. 4 volume set, 8 inches tall. A delightful full mottled calf by Bayntun of Bath with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. A wide gilt roll frames the boards. Dentelles and all edges gilt. Decorated with 8 engravings by Alexandre-Marie Colin, a student of Girodet. Slight rubbing to the edges and some light foxing. An exceptional set of this licentious novel.

Paris: Bibliotheque des Curieux, (1910). Half morocco, 6 inches tall. A very curious item in a curious binding with gilt raised bands, raised head and tail and ornate gilt tooling to the spine. Gilt top edge. One of 500 copies. Original wrappers bound in. The tale of the seduction of a novice by a priest.

London: The Society of English Bibliophilists, 1894. 5 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very neat half morocco of generous proportions with gilt raised bands, tooling and top edge. One of 312 copies on hand made paper. The 73 full page plates by Freudenberg printed on Japanese paper and mounted. 150 head and tail pieces by Dunker. Bookplates. A pristine set of this splendid edition.

Paris: Borel, 1902. Full vellum, 7.5 inches tall. With a label and gilt tooling to the spine and a charming gilt design on the upper board with a butterfly alighting on a lotus. Tales of love from classical writers. From the Selbourne collection and with their tiny ink stamp on the reverse of the title page.

London: Privately Printed, 1871. Full straight grain calf, 8.75 inches tall. A superb copy of this notorious item of erotica. With wide gilt raised bands, fine gilt tooled panels, boards, dentelles and all edges. Printed in black and red, reportedly in a deluxe edition of 250. The extraordinary Wilkes, member of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe, also known as the Hellfire Club, wrote this pornographic poem dedicated to the courtier Fanny Murray entitled "An Essay on Woman" as a parody of Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Man". Having been outlawed in 1769 he became Lord Mayor of London in 1774!

London: Henry G. Bohn, 1850. Full morocco, 7.25 inches tall. One of a special series of 'Bohn's Extra Volumes' Beautifully bound in full morocco by the celebrated London binder Jeremiah Larkins. With gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels, dentelles and all edges gilt. Bookplate and the neat stamp of Bostonian collector Charles S. Dixwell on the reverse of the front free endpapers. A beautiful copy of these 72 short stories, mostly concerned with love, lust, sex and romance, inspired by the Decameron and first published in 1558.

Paris: 'Disciples d'Hippocrate', 1942. Half crushed morocco, 11 inches tall. A simple binding with gilt tooled titles, fleurons and top edge. One of 250 copies on 'velin de rives', this being number 245. With 13 explicit illustrations in black and white and 12 in colour, with an extra suite of the 12 colour lithographs. A fine copy.

Paris: Chez Sylvian Sauvage, 1927. Half morocco, 9.5 inches tall. with raised bands and fine gilt tooling with onlays, gilt top edge. This is example V of XX lettered 'examplaires de collaboration'. With splendid illustrations by Andre Dignimont including an original watercolour signed and inscribed to Pierre Macorlan, the celebrated french novelist and songwriter.

Privately Printed, 1886. Half morocco by Hatchards, 9 inches tall. A very handsome binding with gilt raised bands, gilt titles, panels and top edge. This edition, translated from the 16th century French is by Arthur Machen and is the first complete edition in English. This copy was bound without the plates that are found in some copies.

Paris: Isidore Liseux, 1889. Half crushed morocco, 6.5 inches tall. With 2 gilt raised bands, titles, fine floral tooling to the main panel with onlays for the petals and top edge gilt. Isidore Liseux famously specialised in printing tales that were considered too racy to be printed in England. These 16th century tales are mildly erotic and here translated for the very first time into English. A fascinating item, beautifully bound.