New York : Seven Arts (1926) 45pp. The poetry of a young man who committed suicide at 18 and later published by his brother, Benjamin DeCasseres. Good in decorative paper boards, edges lightly worn, corners bumped. An uncommon collection. More
Sotheby's: New York. 20 October 1980. The personal collection of De Meyer's photographs, stored in a trunk for many years. Images of Chanel, Josephine Baker, Rita de Acosta and many others. Illustrations. Very good in wrappers with prices realized. More
Buenos Aires: Maucci Hermanos (1903). 288pp. Guide to sexual hygiene, as well as various mental and psychological problems. Good in marbled boards, a bit of spotting throughout, endpaper has closed tear. Uncommon. More
Athènes [Brussels] (1871). Soft cover. A curious and rare tract on the question of paederasty in ancient Greece, and almost the only printed document referring to the rare edition of Alcibiade fanciullo a scola. The edition is not to be found in the Bibliothèque Nationale's "Enfer." One of 150 copies, this copy unnumbered. Very good in original marbled wrappers, tipped into plain white wrappers, custom slipcase. More
1st Edition. Soft cover. Very good in original wrappers (2 vols.). Pp XVI, 311; 327, uncut, black-and-red title-page. No 209 of 220 copies. More
Paris Modern-Bibliothèque [1909?] 155p. The first illustrated edition of this novel, which caused a scandal when it appeared. because of its 'indelicate and unpatriotic' novel about military life, it includes one character, Laprévotte, a sodomite, who is cuaght in Le Havre with a group of seven boys. It was prodeeded against for indecency ('outrage aux moeurs'), and the defendants were acquitted in March 1890." - - Patrick Pollard, André Gide: Homosexual Moralist, Yale University Press, 1991). More
Paris: Union Internationale d'Éditions (1909). 155pp. This "roman militaire" is similar to Lucien Descave's portrayal of army life in "Sous-Off" in its descriptions of the seamier aspects of military life. Deverin, an accomplished artist as well as writer, describes in some detail visits to brothels and assorted sexual improprieties. Very good in original decorative wrappers, light wear to covers and spine. The author has illustrated the front endpapers with an original signed drawing depicting a seated soldier. Uncommon. More
Napoli: R. Tipografia Francesco Giannini & Figli (1907). 8vo, 58pp. One of 250 copies issued in Naples for private circulation. Woolf A12. The eighth of Douglas' series of monographs on Capri. Good in salmon wrappers, front cover detached. More
Paris. 1 April 1921 (Series B. #2). (20” x 8/5”). 4pp. An unusual publication by the American dancer/poet/printer who settled in Paris in 1911 and printed a number of his own works, including this periodical espousing his philosophies. This edition also includes short works by Han Ryner, Louis Forest and an excerpt from Natalie Barney’s Pensées d'une Amazon. Very good, edges lightly darkened, folded sheet. Rare. More
Golden Cockerel Press. [1933]. Hardcover. One of 325 numbered copies printed by Gibbings in Golden Cockerel type on Batchelor's hand-made paper with seven wood-engravings by Gibbings. A very good copy in morocco-backed decorated cloth, top edge gilt, light bump to one corner. More
NP: ND. One of several collections of erotic novelettes, this edition includes "l'Amateur de femmes bien chaussées" ; "Branlage merdeux"; "Deux aspects de Don Juan: 1) Don Juan se fait Mécanicien and 2) Don Juan joue à l'inverti. Quite uncommon. Very good in original green wrappers, light wear to covers. More
Paris: Mercure de France (1899). 261pp. The second edition of this controversial gay novel, which was prosecuted for pederastic content in a widely publicized case. After a storm of protest and support from numerous literary celebrities, Eekhoud was eventually acquitted and the book has remained one of the foundational works of modern gay literature. Very good in period binding, original wrappers not present, light wear. More
Three vintage still photographs from the film ¡Que viva México!, a project begun in 1930 by the Russian avant-garde director Sergei Eisenstein (1898–1948). Intended as an episodic portrayal of Mexican culture and politics from pre-Conquest civilization to the Mexican revolution, the film was was beset by difficulties and was eventually abandoned. A version of the film was eventually released in 1979 in a highly edited form. Two of these images were published in Kenneth Macpherson's Close Up film review and bear editorial markings and notations in Macpherson's hand. See Eisenstein, The Principles of Film Form, Close Up, Vol. VII #3, p 176; 179. Very good with general wear, one image mounted on a card (the verso image was apparently rejected and bears an X). From the library of Kenneth Macpherson. More
New York (1993). Hardcover. 4to. Extensive study of male homoerotic photographs. Fine in fine jacket, warmly inscribed by the author. Ooffice. More
Paris (1909). A complete set of 12 issues of this magazine of literature and the arts, financed and edited by Fersen. Contributions by many important literary figures, including Colette, Henry Gauthier-Villars, Laurent Tailhade, Josephin Peladan, Marcel Boulestin, Maxim Gorky, Georges Eekhoud, Achille Essebac, Claude Farrère, Anatole France, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Henri Barbusse, Jean Moréas, Arthur Symons and Fersen himself. Although not explicitly dedicated to homosexual issues and interests, each issue did contain material of interest to gay readers and the journal is considered the first French magazine with a gay agenda Very good in contemporary marbled paper boards, ocassional light foxing. More
Léon Vanier/Albert Messein: Paris (1903). 4to. 174pp. This volume of poetry was written the same year as the author's "Messes Noires" scandal. It was also the year of his friendship with Loulou Locré, a pupil at the Lycée Carnot and of his ultimately disastrous association with Albert François de Warren, a contemporary who appears in Peyrefitte's novel about Fersen. Very good in decorative green boards with a tipped-on photograph of the author. The first hardbound copy of the book we have seen, in what appears to be a publisher's binding. Quite uncommon. More
Mercure de France, Tome CVIII, n° 404, 16 Avril 1914. Fersen contributes eight poems to the weekly literary magazine, most of which relate to opium. Other contributors include Georges Eekhoud, Rachilde, Appolinaire among others. Very good in original wrappers. More
Elysium: Asphodel Editions (2005). 1st Edition. Hardcover. This edition is the first English translation of the eccentric Baron Fersen's decadent gay novel, Lord Lyllian: Messes Noires. Fersen (1880-1923) was arrested in 1903 and charged with indecent assault and exciting minors to debauchery. He was forced to leave France and settled in Capri, where he began the novel the following year. Originally published in 1905, it was one of the first novels written about Oscar Wilde after his demise and is filled with outrageous descriptions of fin de siècle excesses, including Fersen’s own addiction to opium and adolescent boys. The edition is limited to 500 copies bound in black silk moiré, with a reproduction of the original cover illustration by Claude Simpson tipped onto the cover. Jeremy Reed has contributed an Introduction to the edition. Printed at the Stinehour Press in Vermont. More
Paris: Vanier (1905). 3rd ed. Fersen's semi-autobiographical novel about the decadent Lord Lyllian," a breathtaking mixture of truth and fiction" according to the scholar Will Ogrinc. Fersen includes among his cast of characters not only Oscar Wilde and Alfred Douglas, but Friedrich Krupp, Péladan, Robert de Montesquiou, Jean Lorrain and many others. The author's legal battles with his own "messes noires" happened several years before this novel was published and Fersen had retreated to Capri. A good copy in the very appealing wrappers designed by Claude Simpson, modest browning to covers, spine a bit wrinkled, small tears to front hinge. The mention of a "troisieme edition" on title page may be fictive. An English translation of the novel, issued by Elysium Press, was published in 2005. More
London: Leonard Smithers (1899). A collection of poems by a friend of the Sitwells and George Moore, published no doubt as a vanity publication by Smithers, "publisher to the decadents." Laid in is an ALS from the author to the singer Lady Maud Warrender, with her bookplate on front paste down. Very good in decorative blue boards, wear to edges, hinges weakening. More
Glasgow (1945). Text of a lecture given at Glasgow University. Very good in brown wrappers. More
Lyon: Bosc (1935). 100pp. An interesting doctoral dissertation dealing with the question of assorted "perversions" engaged in by members of the French army, with an extended case studies and descriptions of homosexual behavior. Inscribed by the author on endpaper. Quite uncommon. very good in very good, lightly worn wrappers. More
New York (1998). 72pp. Issue #26 of the eclectic and stylish "magazine" of photography and fashion. Photographs by Jack Pierson, Carter Smith, David Byrne, Mario Testino, and many others. The issue is enclosed in a round box, with the photographs on individual unbound sheets, with a mask by Hermes laid into the box. As issued. More
Lyon: Archives d'anthropologie Criminelle de Criminologie et de Psychologie normale et Pathologique. Tome XV #90: 15 November 1900. This contribution by the noted sexologist contains a number of case histories on "sexual perversions" including a discussion of "homosexualité et uranisme." He discusses the recent literature on the subject, including André Raffalovich's writings and those of other researchers. Very good in original wrappers, sunning and edgewar. More
