Errotika biblion.
Rome [i.e., Paris or Neuchatel]: de l'imprimerie du Vatican, 1783. First edition, 8vo, pp. iv, 192; title-page vignette (2 cupids); bound in modern dark brown morocco gilt, a.e.g., by Wood; light wear, a few contemporary manuscript notes, fine. A compendium of curiosities culled from ancient writings in an effort to present indelicate subjects such as onanism, tribalism, etc. in a manner acceptable to the general public. Written while Mirabeau was imprisoned in the castle of Vincennes, the book was, according to Kearney, pursued with such vigor by the authorities that only fourteen copies of the first edition have survived - a number almost assuredly inaccurate. Following a second edition of 1792, Errotika was included in the Papal Index of prohibited books. "A further edition was ordered to be destroyed in 1826 by the Royal Court of Paris, and for 'outrages against public morality and good manners' there were two other prosecutions, in 1856 and 1868," (Kearney). The book was published in several subsequent editions and was included by Apollinaire, along with some of Mirabeau's other prison writings, in his scholarly edition of 1910, issued in the Bibliotheque des Curieux series. Barbier II, 172. Graesse IV, 535. Kearney, Private Case 1190. Kearney, Erotic Literature, p. 80. Not in Brunet. Item #22332
Price: $750.00
