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Erotic memoirs include Casanova's Histoire de ma vie,
from the 18th century. Notable English works of this
genre from the 19th century include The Ups and Downs of
Life (1867) by Edward Sellon and My Secret Life by
"Walter". Edward Sellon was a writer, translator and
illustrator of erotic literature who wrote erotica for
the pornographic publisher William Dugdale, including
such works as The New Epicurean (1865).[86] The true
identity of "Walter" is very mysterious. Ian Gibson, in
The Erotomaniac speculates that My Secret Life was
really written by Henry Spencer Ashbee and therefore it
is possible that "Walter" is a fiction. A famous German
erotic work of this time, published in two parts in 1868
and 1875 entitled Pauline the Prima Donna purports to be
the memoirs of the opera singer Wilhelmine
Schröder-Devrient. Various discrepancies with known
facts of the singer's life however have led many to
doubt the veracity of this book and the erotic
adventures contained in the second volume, at least,
appear to be very implausible. These include the
authoress indulging in lesbian sadomasochism, group sex,
sodomy, bestiality, scatology, necrophilia, prostitution
and vampirism: all before she had reached the age of
27. 20th century contributions to the genre include
Frank Harris's My Life and Loves (1922–27) and the
convicted Austrian sex criminal Edith Cadivec's
Confessions and Experiences and its sequel Eros, the
Meaning of My Life (published together 1930-1). A
21st century example is One Hundred Strokes of the Brush
Before Bed (2004) by Melissa Panarello.
Erotic
Literature - Sex Manual
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