Item Details

The Pleasures of Cruelty: Being a Sequel to the Reading of Justine et Juliette [Vol. Three Only].

Paris et London: Privately Printed, [1930] 1898. Reprint. Hardcover. Influenced by the Marquis de Sade’s libertine fiction, The Pleasures of Cruelty is one of the darkest Victorian flagellant novels, reveling in cruelty, degradation, and the pleasures of the rod. An extract entitled ‘The Sultan’s Reverie’ was published in William Lazenby’s underground periodical The Pearl: A Journal of Facetiæ and Voluptuous Reading in December 1880 (Number 18). The first complete edition (three volumes in one) seems to have been published, possibly by Lazenby, in 1886. An edition was also published in ‘Paris et London’ in 1898, probably by Leonard Smithers and Duringe. The author is unknown but it has been conjectured that The Pleasures of Cruelty was written by General Studholme Hodgson or another member (or members) of the flagellant circle that flourished around Richard Monckton-Milnes, Lord Houghton. There is a U.S. reprint: ‘Paris et London, 1898” (N.Y., c. 1930)— Clandestine Erotic Fiction in English 1800–1930: A Bibliographical Study by Peter Mendes. Scarce in any 19th or early 20th century edition. Very Good+. Light shelf/edge wear, else tight, bright and unmarred. Bound in blue cloth. 8vo. 68pp. Illus (b/w plates tipped in on newsprint). Volume III contains the three original plates. In English from the French. Item #10213

Price: $35.00

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