Unique French Edition Of Erotic Classic Up For Sale
(Source Forbes)
A one-of-a-kind Fanny Hill book drips with provocative hand-painted watercolors.
An item in Bloomsbury Auctions' upcoming June 23 books and manuscripts sale in New York looks innocent enough. Estimated at $4,000-$6,000 and printed in Paris in 1887, it comes encased in a discreet cardboard box covered in handmade marbled paper in subtle tones of mauve, tan and pale blue. A bit too innocent, even.
Pull out the volume inside and you get a hint of the titillating content within. The brown leather cover is embossed in gold, with what is known as a "priapic" design: The four corners of the front cover each display a penis and scrotum with wings attached, encircled by a golden oval encased in a delicate, labial--or is it floral?--decoration.
This is Mémoirs de Fanny Hill, a French edition of the landmark erotic novel, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by English novelist John Cleland, first published in 1749. Fanny, of course, is the famously risqué story of an orphaned 15-year-old country girl and her adventures as a London working girl.
Multiple editions of the book have been released over the years, including Amazon's current $3.20 Kindle version, but the Bloomsbury specimen is a masterpiece of the tactile. Leather binding aside, its inside covers are panels of brown silk and marbled paper. Turning the pages of the story reveals 51 delicately painted watercolors, many tucked in the margins and corners of select pages. There are also 10 engraved plates. Read Article...
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