What's your most wanted?

I was going to say Holy Grail of erotica, but that sounded strange.
Anyway, what's the one erotic book you want most? The one you always make a note to look for when you're in a bookstore?

Mine would be the Grove Press edition of "Miriam." I have it, and the Blue Moon one, but I want a nicer copy.
What's yours?

I had been on the lookout for a copy of the 1886 Kama Shastra Society edition of Burton's The Perfumed Garden of the Cheikh Nefzaoui. Well, I found one - sort of. Mine has a series of naughty woodcuts by one 'Malay', which as far as I can discover on-line were not in the original. Evidently, the illustrated version was a more-or-less contemporaneous bootleg, possibly from Belgium. The covers are a sort of marbled pasteboard, possibly so one could discreetly read it on the train - although the title on the spine (just Perfumed Garden) is gold on black. Anyway, I like the prints, so I'm calling it near enough - maybe I'll get it rebound one day.

The next erotica quarry? Perhaps an early Louys ... although my French sucks.

I cannot but agree on the magnificence of 'Miriam. I have the 1999 and 2004 Blue Moon reprints, but the Grove Press edition has so far eluded me. I'm reluctant, however, to limit myself to just a single book. Any of the works of P N Dedeaux would form targets for hunting, although fortunately I believe I now have at least one edition of each of them. Superbly written classics of the erotic chastisement genre. I would also add the works of Gerda Mundinger to the list, particularly in the Grove Press editions.

One of the least lauded in this genre - undeservedly so, in my opinion - is Sarah Rawlings' 'Westbury', one of the few books to reach the Dedeaux 'Gold Standard' in my opinion, and still relatively inexpensive. Well worth adding to a hunting list within this genre.

Well, I just got a job at the local used bookstore, so I'm keeping my eyes open.
The boss doesn't seem to go in for erotica, but you never know.

Thanks to this thread, I've added both Miriam and Westbury to my collection!

Re: Westbury - the LT link sent me to a book about labyrinths ... so I checked Amazon. Their page was also garbled. I suspected it was not about 17th century witchfinders and slavery (although that might also be good); sure enough, scrolling down revealed an uncomplimentary review that clarified it was, as the cover suggests, about boarding school discipline. Review aside, the $262 price for a new copy - in paperback! - suggests that it is popular. This might be a case for the e-reader version ...

Amazon.uk has new copies:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Westbury-Sara-Rawlings/dp/190393110X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&...

Hmm...the 5 star review was from someone named Clifford...

On another note, I was down at my favorite used bookstore, and they had a couple Grove copies of "Beatrice" in perfect condition.

Guilty as charged, your honour!

In fact my opinion of the book has risen in the five years since I wrote the review. I feel it is in the same class as P N Dedeaux, but I suppose you do have to like the literature of erotic chastisement to appreciate it fully! Even the comment by the other reviewer, about the ending being patchy, is something that could sometimes be said of Dedeaux!

I'm surprised at the cost you quoted. on Amazon.co.uk there is a cost of £1.95. To separate it from the false search results, use the ISBN 190393110X. Occasionally appears on eBay uk too.

Well, you could go over to the Dark Side (as we in the library biz say), and get it as a Kindle Editon for $5.79.
That's why I'm going to finally break down and get a Kindle-the erotica available on Amazon is plentiful and cheap. I mean, the variety is extensive and the prices are reasonable.

This edition of l'Histoire d'O with illustrations by Leonor Fini would be nice, for starters.

link to Abe which will expire as soon as someone buys this book for USD 1647, and free shipping!

> 10

You can get it here for as little as EUR 588 (plus shipping ...):

http://www.abebooks.fr/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&kn=L%...

Or just look at the plates, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_ysws_anjQ

Another 500 down and I may begin considering a serious relationship!

Ah, watching art on youtube is like eating off the Food Network. :(

Here's one for $784.60. Heck, at that price, you could get two!
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=929505043&searchurl=pn%3DLa...

Update: Just ordered Westbury from Amazon, for the low, low price of $7. I'll post a review when I finish it.

Link to an article "Collectible Porn: Magazines, Movies and Antiques" on CNBC. I found it interesting.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49166131

Good article, DugsBooks. Thanks for that.

That's funny, about that copy of Penthouse. That you could potentially get arrested just for owning it (which I understand, but still).

I assume most people want it for the Traci Lords pictures. Thank goodness they took out the nude photos of George Burns at the last minute.

I have a friend in Orange County (CA) who is a credentialed appraiser of erotica. If anyone needs his services, I'll be happy to provide a referral!

Now that's a job I could really go for! His business cards must be awesome.
And it sounds like a Kinks song: "An Authorized Appraiser of Erotica"

Well, I have a friend who's maid's cousin's dog's chiroprator's substitute manicurist might know someone who knows someone who might have that copy of Penthouse...

It's not his full-time gig, alas. He does tax-accountancy!

It sounds like a Monty Python routine.
"I'm here to have my books done."
"Sex?"
"No thank you. Just the books."
"No, I mean, the books. Sex or taxes."
"Pardon?"
"Sex or taxes?"
"Well, when you put it that way..."

My own most wanted is nothing fantastically obscure or extreme: Black Pearl: v. 4: The Memoirs of a Victorian Sex Magician I have the first three volumes of the series, published anonymously, but believed to be the work of Gerald Suster. (Edit: Actually written in collaboration by Suster and his wife Michaela) The books are particular favorites of mine; well-written, entertaining and full of recondite Victorian lore. I would have thought the combination of erotica, humour and Aleister Crowley as a recurring character might have been enough to keep them in print, but they are long gone and quite collectable now.

The concluding volume seems to be both rare and sought-after. I'd previously seen copies on offer for three figure sums, but I find abebooks is currently offering one for the incredible asking price of £1489.09. This odd sum is likely an artifact produced by a bidding war between automated pricing programs, but the other copy on offer is £99.00. Which is pretty damned steep for a New English Library paperback issued in the nineteen-nineties for a fiver. The series was reissued in two hardcover volumes, which bind the first and second together, then the third and fourth. Again, these come up very rarely, and I've never seen the second at a price I could afford.

Someday, I'd love to be in a position to organise a deluxe reprint edition with specially-commissioned illustrations . .

Wow, I want that too!

And this just goes to show that we need to write our own Victorian erotica collection, and then get it illustrated. I mean, who knows this stuff better?

> 20

I don't have any of those books, but can't imagine paying the collector's prices you report. I will happily be a market for your reprints. In fact, I would buy multiple copies. My social circles are such that a great many of my friends would be delighted to receive them as gifts.

ETA: I have some remote connections to the late Mr. Suster. If you are serious about this project, I may be able to make inquiries about how to connect with his estate?

Serious? No, alas, I'm afraid it's just an idle fantasy, but given the prices quoted for the books, I'm sure someone will pick them up sooner or later. It seems that NEL is now part of Hodder, and it probably wouldn't be a major project to make them available for the kindle, if they were aware there was interest.

Your connections might be pleased to know Gerald and Michaela's work is remembered with affection - please do pass on my regards!

Black Pearl Anthology #2 for sale at amazon.ca for $6.74 + shipping ...

Somebody must've heard you. It's now listed for $3717.36.
http://www.amazon.ca/Black-Pearl-Memoirs-Victorian-Magician/dp/0340717564/ref=sr...

Actually there were two listed on Amazon.ca that day for under 7 bucks. One was VG, while the other - presumably this one - was listed as good. Mind boggling, isn't it?

Damn! Missed it. Still, Xmas eve is no time to be offering bargains.

Bookfinder has it for 28.95. Still too rich for my blood.
I did find Miriam in a Grove Press edition for $9.90. I'm thinking of getting it and taking it to a bookbinder I know and having it made into a hardcover. I'm definitely going to have that done to one of my copies of Venus in the Country, now that I think of it.

Tell us more about your bookbinder friend - the ones around here seem to specialize in bibles or 'freestyle' ... i.e. sticks and feathers and seashells.

It's David, from "Duckabush Book Bindery" out in Port Ludlow, Washington.
The former owner of my bookstore was part of a group that put together a beautiful hardcover history of our fair town: The Spirit of Poulsbo. She had David take some and make these beautiful, leather bound, slipcased editions out of them.
He also rebound a nice Paradise Lost with Dore illustrations that we thing is from the late 1800's. He does nice work.

I brought up his website - he does amazing work! The "twelve books took eight weeks to complete" comment was a little alarming, though, even attached to a complete restoration of seriously damaged books. Even with the optimistic assumption of a five day week, we're talking a lot of hour$ to per book. Not to say it's unwarranted; just that it hints at a serious investment for a leather bound volume.

Well, she sold the originals for $75, and the fancy-schmancy ones for $150, if that's any indication.

Ack! I just got a Grove Press Miriam, and it was in good condition. Except that Thriftbooks put a sticker on the spine, that, when it was peeled off, took the top layer with it!
And that was the one I was going to have made into a hardcover, too.

At last . . I have it! Finally snagged a reasonably priced copy of Black Pearl: v. 4: The Memoirs of a Victorian Sex Magician. Contains some interesting bibliographical clues to related work by the same anonymous team, of which more later.

Congratulations! Where'd you find it?

I wish I had a story about an assignation with a private dealer in occult esoterica in an exclusive London gentleman's club to tell you, a parcel in brown paper passed under the table . . but no, I've been watching the usual online markets on and off and a handful of copies came up in the UK at standard second-hand paperback prices. Still a couple out there, if anyone else is looking for one.

I want someone to translate Aline et Valcour by The Marquis de Sade. While most of his other books have been translated since the 1960s, "A & V" remains untranslated except for snippets in random volumes. What's the deal?

I gather the first publisher was guillotined, so there's that.
There is an English translation here, but no mention of formal publishing:
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/02/fiction/aline-and-valcour-or-the-philosophic...