We Are Not Alone: Resources for Abby's August 9th Presentation

PDF Slide Deck

Non-Fiction

Barney: Grove Press and Barney Rosset (America’s Maverick Publisher and His Battle Against Censorship)
By Michael Rosenthal
Arcade Publishing, 2017
Why it's on the list: A portrait of Rosset that covers his life, his energy, his goals, and his tireless fight against censorship, changing how and what America reads in the process.

Bookletters and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica 1920-1940
By Jay A. Gertzman
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999
Why it's on the list: A dense but useful study of early 20th century American erotica versus the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice

Clandestine Erotic Fiction in English 1800-1930: A Bibliographical Study
By Peter Mendes
Scolar Press, 1993
Why it's on the list: Documents actual publishing histories of Regency, Victorian, and Edwardian literature, including coverage of publishers, pseudonyms/authors, and falsified/actual dates.

The Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature (3 Volume Set Containing: Index Librorum Prohibitorum, Centuria Librorum Absconditorum, and Catena Librorum Tacendorum)
By Pisanus Fraxi (Henry Spencer Ashbee)
Documentary Books, Inc, 1962
Why it's on the list: These are the bibliographies of Henry Spencer Ashbee, with detailed publishing histories, commentaries, and even passages from genuine Regency and Victorian works, as these three volumes were originally privately printed in the period of 1877-1885 and based on Ashbee’s on personal research.

The English Vice: Beating, Sex and Shame in Victorian England and After
By Ian Gibson
Gerald Duckworth & Co, Ltd, 1978
Why it's on the list: History of flagellation in both fiction and every day life, including explorations of school life, the military, the media, obscenity laws, and psychology. Gets a bit preachy towards the end but overall a well-researched and useful text.

The Golden Age of Erotica
By Bernhardt J. Hurwood
Sherbourne Press Inc, 1965
Why it's on the list: Coverage of “the Peculiar Vice” (aka flagellation) and the story of Whipping Tom.

A Long Time Burning: The History of Literary Censorship in England
By Donald Thomas
Frederick A. Praeger, 1969
Why it's on the list: A deeply researched history of literary censorship in England, with a lengthy appendix of examples of censored works.

The Other Victorians: A Study of Sexuality and Pornography in Mid-Nineteenth Century England
By Steven Marcus
Bantam Books, 1967
Why it's on the list: The academic support for Rosset’s Victorian erotica endeavor.

The Private Case: A Supplement
Compiled by Patrick J. Kearney and Neil J. Crawford
Ian Jackson, 2016
Why it's on the list: A supplement to the original work, The Private Case by Kearney.

The Private Case: An Annotated Bibliography of The Private Case Erotica Collection in the British Museum Library
By Patrick J. Kearney
Jay Landesman Limited, 1981
Why it's on the list: Documentation of the works contained in the Private Case, including those bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee.

Rereading Sex: Battles over Sexual Knowledge and Suppression in Nineteenth-Century America
By Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz
Alfred A. Knopf, 1992
Why it's on the list: Covers Anthony Comstock, Victoria Woodhull, and America’s battle over sex and sexuality

The Secret Museum: Pornography in Modern Culture
By Walter Kendrick
Viking, 1987
Why it's on the list: Amongst other history, this volume includes that “the English Vice” was France’s retaliation for the English’s nickname for syphilis, “the French pox.”

The Secret Record: Modern Erotic Literature
By Michael Perkins
Rhinoceros Books, 1992
Why it's on the list: A readable study of modern erotic literature, with special focus on the Victorian era, the Parisian era, women in erotica, erotic poetry, and homosexuality in erotic literature.

Sex and Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire
By Eric Berkowitz
Counterpoint, 2012
Why it's on the list: I used this work specifically for the history of Edmund Curll and the publishing history of Fanny Hill. Also covers Comstock and the Comstock Act. Well-written and deeply researched.