Book description
A visit to any library will prove that the lively print culture
of the eighteenth century gave rise to many important literary works
that are still read today. But it was the same publishing industry, and
even the same presses, that supplied a thriving underground trade in
erotic writing and art. These texts and images are, as you might expect,
rarely found on library shelves.
Although difficult to obtain these texts are, in academic terms, impossible
to ignore. Scholars in a number of disciplines have come to see the erotic
publications of this period as an incredibly valuable source of information
on eighteenth-century British culture. The writings embody the Enlightenment
attitude to sexuality, reflecting wider changes to the conception of
the individual in social and biological terms, which are in turn related
to the political and scientific events taking place at that time
This new edition provides a collection of writings which, together with
our edition Eighteenth-Century British Erotica Part I (2002),
forms an unrivalled resource for eighteenth century studies. A special
feature of Part II is a whole volume dedicated to homosexuality which
stands to become a central source for gay studies and queer theory in
the years ahead. The first four volumes comprise a rich variety of topics,
from prostitution to flatulence, painting a colourful picture of the
real and imaginative worlds inhabited by the people of eighteenth-century
Britain. One title worth singling out for mention is Memoirs of Fanny
Hill (1750). This is John Cleland's own reworking of Memoirs of
a Woman of Pleasure (1748-9) and it has never before been republished.
The new set will be of interest to students of eighteenth century culture,
queer theory, history of sexuality and book history:
- primary resource texts unavailable in any other modern edition
- most original texts survive in fewer than five copies
- digitally cleaned up facsimile reproduction
- volume introductions, headnotes
- general introduction and consolidated index
In recent years the attention of scholars has been increasingly drawn
to the literary sub-culture of printed erotica that emerged in the eighteenth
century, and it has come to be recognised that these writings can offer
a whole new perspective on eighteenth-century British life. Few of the
original publications are available outside specialist collections however,
and Pickering & Chatto Publishers are very pleased to be able to
present a substantial selection of representative works that will provide
material for research and contribute to the growing body of criticism.
The first three volumes move chronologically through the century on subjects
such as prostitution, flagellation, flatulence, cross dressing, dildos
and other sex toys. The works tend to fall into distinct categories based
on legitimate genres like medical treatises, biographies and religious
satires, some of which were used as platforms for anti-Quaker or anti-Catholic
polemic. Authors often appropriated mainstream literary and artistic
works and used them as frameworks for titilating content, creating the characteristic
blend of low and high culture that typifies the erotica of this period.
A scatalogical imitation of Milton and a narrative derived from Hogarth’s
engravings are just two examples of this, giving a hint of the sheer
variety and breadth of the items in this set.
Volume four contains Memoirs of Fanny Hill (1750), John Cleland's
own revision of his Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1748-9), the
best known and most durable pornographic work from the period. This version
of the Fanny Hill story differs from its namesake in many interesting
ways, and has never been published in a modern edition. Along with Memoirs
of Fanny Hill comes a set of engravings by the highly regarded artist
Hubert Gravelot and an anonymous whore biography, The Genuine History
of Mrs. Sarah Prydden (1723), which anticipates Cleland's novel.
The final volume is devoted exclusively to materials concerned with male
and female homosexuality. There is a broad seam of satire in this section,
and among the irreverent works included are personal attacks on
public figures rumoured to be homosexual, among them Queen Anne and her
servant Abigail Masham, the sculptor Anne Damer, and the playwrights
David Garrick and Samuel Foote. [Pickering & Chatto]
About the author
Patrick Spedding is with the School of Literary, Visual and
Performance Studies, Faculty of Arts, Monash University.
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