The Pearl (Victorian erotic classics) [Paperback]

Anonymous (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1995 | Series: Victorian erotic classics

Among the first "Journals of Voluptuous Reading" to be spawned by the Victorians, this novel shows them as vastly different from their public image--beneath the facade of respectability and sexual repression there existed the strongest urge for sexual experimentation and enjoyment. First published in London in July 1879, it provided unrestrained erotica for every taste.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

These stories are taken from The Pearl (A Magazine of Facetiae and Voluptuous Reading), which was published between 1879 and 1880, and which across its 18-issue lifetime reveled unashamedly in its reputation for salubrious gossip from the upper echelons of society.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078670294X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786702947
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,181,614 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, May 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pearl (Paperback)

Other than the 18th Century Fanny Hill, The Pearl is the earliest genuine Victorian erotic classic. In tone, style and subject matter, it is undoubedtly the Real McCoy of the genre.

As they say, there is something for everyone, and much that may not be of interest. The writing is varied...reflecting the different contributors, but uniformly well done. Often funny, frequently raunchy, mostly playful, The Pearl should be able to offer something you like if you have an interest in Victorian erotica.

The text follows the magazine format from which it was taken, so that the stories are arranged in installments that pick up and resume after other segments. This can be distracting if you particularly want to follow one thread, but not difficult once you get used to it. The "plots" are not significant, in any event. Great scenes of initiation into sex, voyeurism, and other delights. Interestingly, women seem to like this book (at least parts of it) which is not a given with its successors. My partner loves the scenes of blushing young maidens being initiated by a strapping youth beside a meadow fence, and the like.

This is a tome you will mark up for re-reading favorite passages. Get it even if you don't like mild S&M, incest, and punishment...you can skip those sections. As you get to know later examples of the Victorian genre, you will never lose your fondness for the original article.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic of Erotic Reading - Tales of S/M and More, September 3, 2000

By 

"oldkiwi" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pearl (Paperback)

This is a classic of erotica, with something for everyone. This appears to be a genuine Victorian work. The S/M is very Victorian, and very well expressed. There are generous helpings of homosexuality, male and female, along with plenty of heterosexual couplings, all with a reasonable literary flair. BTW, to buy this book in New Zealand you had to fill out a form declaring that you were buying it for serious literary purposes and not just because you like to read erotica!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Versatile !, January 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pearl (Victorian erotic classics) (Paperback)

This book accompanied me since teenage. It has all kinds of erotic-sexual stories - It caters to all tastes but very short example of each.

It has SM, Gay ,Pedophilia, Orgies, and hundreds of ordinary sex descriptions, pregnant , lesbian homosexual boy-boy , girl-girl, man-boy , woman-girl and many more!