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An
early pioneer of the publication of erotic works in
England was Edmund Curll (1675–1747) who published many
of the Merryland books. These were a somewhat peculiar
English genre of erotic fiction in which the female body
(and sometimes the male) was described in terms of a
landscape.[36] The earliest work in this genre seems to
be Erotopolis: The Present State of Bettyland (1684)
probably by Charles Cotton. This was included, in
abbreviated form, in The Potent Ally: or Succours from
Merryland (1741). Other works include A New Description
of Merryland. Containing a Topographical, Geographical
and Natural History of that Country (1740) by Thomas
Stretzer, Merryland Displayed (1741) and set of maps
entitled A Compleat Set of Charts of the Coasts of
Merryland (1745). The last book in this genre appears to
be a parody of Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey
Through France and Italy (1768) entitled La Souriciere.
The Mousetrap. A Facetious and Sentimental Excursion
through part of Austrian Flanders and France (1794) by
"Timothy Touchit".
The rise of the novel in 18th century England provided a
new medium for erotica. One of the most famous in this
new genre was Fanny Hill (1748) by John Cleland. This
book set a new standard in literary smut and was often
adapted for the cinema in the 20th century.
French writers at this time also wrote erotica. One
genre, which vies in oddness with the English "Merryland"
productions, was inspired by the newly translated
Arabian Nights and involved the transformation of people
into objects which were in propinquity with or employed
in sexual relationships: such as sofas, dildos and even
bidets. The climax of this trend is represented in
French philosopher Diderot's Les Bijoux indiscrets
(1747) in which a magic ring is employed to get women's
vaginas to give an account of their intimate sexual
histories.
Other works of French erotica from this period include
Thérèse Philosophe (1748) by Jean-Baptiste de Boyer,
Marquis d'Argens which describes a girl's initiation
into the secrets of both philosophy and sex.;[38] The
Lifted Curtain or Laura's Education, about a young
girl's sexual initiation by her father, written by the
French revolutionary politician Comte de Mirabeau; also
Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Pierre
Choderlos de Laclos, first published in 1782.
In the late 18th century, such works as Justine, or the
Misfortunes of Virtue and 120 Days of Sodom by the
Marquis de Sade were exemplars of the theme of sado-masochism
and influenced later erotic accounts of Sadism and
masochism in fiction. De Sade (as did the later writer
Sacher-Masoch) lent his name to the sexual acts which he
describes in his work.
Erotic Literature - The 19th century |
