As author, I feel the crudeness of my style may be a little offensive to some, but hope my desire to afford general pleasure will excuse my defects.

You can read more about Ashbee and his contemporaries in the book *The Other Victorians* by Steven Marcus, available from the RFBD. During the nineteenth century, archaeological excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum unearthed many erotic mosaics, frescoes and statues, inspiring a keen interest in ancient history. The erotic literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans was not overlooked by the Victorians, either, and until the mid-twentieth century, many of these works were read in the original Latin. This is a fine example of the so-called “petticoat governance books.” While Englishmen may have been lords and masters of their homes and families, it’s clear from the popularity of this type of novel that many had secret submissive longings. This particular example features lots of incidents in which a young man is forced to wear women’s clothes, including a corset, and serve very dominant females’ whims as a young woman. The narrative includes explicit encounters with women and men, humiliation, bondage, discipline, a drag king, and some imaginative corporal punishments. I think this one is pretty boring myself, but perhaps more important than the work itself is that it was at the center of the most celebrated case brought under the U.S. Obscene publications Act was the 1960 Prosecution of Penguin Books for the posthumous publication of D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Interestingly, it may have been adapted from a much older 17th century French work and has been reprinted often. You can read the book on-line. 6 Venus in FursThen I felt as if it was all over, and I must die soon; my cries were succeeded by low sobs, moans, and then hysterical crying, which gradually got lower and lower, till at last I must have fainted, as I remembered nothing more till I found myself in bed, and awoke with my poor posteriors tremendously bruised and sore, and it was nearly a fortnight before I got rid of all the marks of that severe whipping. The butler's excuses and pleading of fear, in case he was missed, &c., were all of no avail; she fairly drove him on, and he was soon as furiously excited as herself, and with a profusion of sighs, expressions of pleasure, endearment, &c., they soon died away again into a state of short voluptuous oblivion. However, Mr. William was too nervous and afraid to let her lay long; he withdrew his instrument from her foaming cunny, just as it was all slimy and glistening with the mingled juices of their love; but what a contrast to its former state, as Alice now beheld it much reduced in size, and already drooping its fiery head.

It’s more of a literary drama than the usual explicit offering. You can read the book on-line. Roman Polanski adopted Venus in Furs for the silver screen in 2012.

Modern Erotica

My young lady must smart for this, Miss Pennington," said Miss Birch, with suddenly assumed gravity; "she has been very troublesome lately with these impudent drawings, but this is positively obscene; if she draws one thing she will go to another. Send for Susan to bring my birch rod! I must punish her whilst my blood is warm, as I am too forgiving, and may let her off."

Though in part tales of lamia, succubi and incubi, and other seductive inhuman creatures and revenants had been around since Roman times, these revenants found new life, as it were, in such works as Thus begins what many readers still refer to as a classic erotic novel. Written as a personal memoir penned by an English lady of easy virtue, *Fanny Hill* was the subject of the first U.S. obscenity trial in 1821. While *Fanny Hill* predates the Victorian period, it was the first book of its kind and set much of the tone and style for future erotic tales. (This is sort of one of those literary jokes in itself, since *Fanny Hill* was written as a parody of *Moll Flanders* a book which was written by Daniel Defoe, the same author who wrote *Robinson Crusooe*. While *Moll Flanders* was written as Defoe's puritanical if justifiable condemnation of the prostitution and pornography which was rampant in eighteenth-century London, *Fanny Hill* is both erotic and funny, taking a more lenient attitude toward the expression of human sexuality.

Slicker-Looking Guy

This first entry is a slight cheat: The Pearl was not actually a book, but a magazine published briefly in 18 volumes and two Christmas Annuals until the publishers were threatened with prosecution for distributing obscene literature.

These erotic tales of the affairs of the gods and goddesses provided much of the inspiration for the images used by Shakespeare in his comedies ("Midsummer Night's Dream" in particular). This erotica classic explores the nature of desire as O, a beautiful female fashion photographer, is willingly debased by her dominant male lover in a chateau outside Paris. Available from

Open Library

The natural instinct of the ancients instilled in their minds the idea that copulation was the direct and most acceptable form of worship they could offer to their deities, and I know that those of my readers who are not bigoted Christians will agree with me, that there cannot be any great sin in giving way to natural desires, and enjoying, to the utmost, all those delicious sensations for which a beneficent Creator has so amply fitted us. Today, girls remain stranded between this fetishisation of their chastity and the commodification of their femininity. On one side, public discourse polices their burgeoning sexuality. Burge accurately highlights how the language of sexualisation invokes “a right-wing moral agenda” to advocate for abstinence and the perpetuation of patriarchal gender roles under the pretext of the protection of innocence. Misogynist practices of public “slut shaming” regularly make headlines, stigmatising girls’ desires and sexual expressions. On the other side of the spectrum, consumer culture crudely reduces girls’ erotic appeal to a disposable commodity. These polarised characterisations leave little room for girls to negotiate their identities, explore their sensualities, and express their individualities. Studying this postcard suggests, however, that the image of young femininity has been deeply bound to ideological and consumer concerns, both of which negate girls’ senses of self. It also invites us to critically rethink the contemporary debate on sexualisation outside of disempowering and exploitative narratives that perpetuate gendered patterns of inequality.