THE GOLDEN AGE OF EROTICA

by Bernhardt J. Hurwood ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1965

According to the author, between 1661, when Charles II mounted the throne, and the 1890's when Victoria had been settled for some time, the presses churned out an unequalled amount of erotica. Mr. Hurwood claims that only a very small proportion of the material has survived because that which is common and familiar rarely gets saved. On the evidence of the examples quoted or synopsized here, the age was more brazen than golden in terms of literary gifts. Chapters are devoted to the enormous literature of ""The Peculiar Vice,"" flagellation, which the English characteristically blamed the French for, and vice versa. Next in volume was the homosexual theme, which appears to have been as lacking in authors of skill or wit then as it is now. There was even the less often heard from area of ladies' underwear fanciers who produced essays, stories and poems. Mr. Hurwood also covers the stage and the world of the plastic arts in his conversational journey through spice. He seems to have proved his point that it was once much more widely available. It was all a matter of knowing where to look for it. That's the chief value of this sort of round up, too.

Pub Date: June 15, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Sherbourne Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1965

Categories: NONFICTION