Montel Alfred Larzac Claude (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 131 pages. Published in 1982. Landmark collection of erotic photographs. One of the most beautiful erotic photography titles of the 20th century. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only that had limited distribution in France and was not commercially distributed abroad. The First Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Le Club de Livre Secret and Jean-Francois Lamuniere: Regular-sized volume format. Red cloth boards with gilt titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by various contributors, all of them unknown and unidentified. The postcard reproductions are (wittily) interspersed with the serious erotic poetry of such great writers as Paul Verlaine, Guy de Maupassant, Alfred Jarry, de la Fontaine, and de Verineau, as only the French at their most amorous and libidinous can pull the whole thing off. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in Paris, France to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Presents "Cartes Postales Pornographiques de la Belle Epoque". Pornographic postcards that showcase another aspect of the Belle Epoque. A delectable sampling of the finest and insofar as it was possible, most representative photographic pornography ever taken between the end of the 19th century and 1914, the period in the West known as "La Belle Epoque" ("The Beautiful Era"). If we collect images in books or online today, more than a hundred years ago, lovers of erotica collected photographs reproduced as 5 X 6 inch postcards. The First World War ended the boom and destroyed most of the material. Part of the task that such contemporary masters as Jan Saudek have undertaken is recovery of the now-lost art of the pornographic studio photograph. It is a testament to their brilliance that these photographs, while guileless compared to our time, still have the capacity to arouse, not just make us wax nostalgic. The models are young, beautiful, and well-endowed couples engaged in every conceivable sex act invented by Man: Fellatio, cunnilingus, "69" (on a boat that is marked by the magical number), menage a trois, anal sex, orgy, acrobatic sex as well as the classic missionary position, mutual masturbation, and passionate lovemaking. As a period in France's history, the Belle Epoque was considered a golden time of beauty, innovation, and creativity: The arts flourished. Cabaret, cancan, and the cinema were born. Art developed new forms with Impressionism and Art Nouveau. So the sexual underground was just as busy, productive, and imaginative. Even if all we have left are the very few postcards that somehow survived The Great War, it is blessing enough, lovingly collected and reproduced in this gem of a book. An absolute "must-have" title for erotica and photography collectors. This title is a great collection. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp and bright. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws because the plates have been pored over repeatedly. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with black-and-white plates. A fine collectible copy. ISBN 2903901007. no.