Vintage Erotica: Satyricon, Kama Sutra, Decameron, Fanny Hill, and My Secret Life

According to Wikipedia: “Satyricon (or Satyrica) is a Latin work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry.” «The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian Hindu text widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature written by Vātsyāyana. A portion of the work consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse. It is largely in prose, with many inserted anustubh poetry verses. «Kāma” which is one of the three goals of Hindu life, means sensual or sexual pleasure, and «sūtra” literally means a thread or line that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Contrary to popular perception, especially in the western world; Kama sutra is not an exclusive sex manual, it presents itself as a guide to a virtuous and gracious living that discusses the nature of love, family life and other aspects pertaining to pleasure oriented faculties of human life.” «The Decameron (subtitle: Prencipe Galeotto) is a collection of 100 novellas by Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in 1350 and finished in 1351/3. It is a medieval allegorical work best known for its bawdy tales of love, appearing in all its possibilities from the erotic to the tragic.” “Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (popularly known as Fanny Hill) is an erotic novel by John Cleland first published in England in 1748. Written while the author was in debtor's prison in London, it is considered “the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel.” One of the most prosecuted and banned books in history,[4] it has become a synonym for obscenity.” “My Secret Life, by “Walter”, is the memoir of a Victorian gentleman's sexual development and experiences. It was first published in a private edition of eleven volumes, which appeared over seven years beginning around 1888… It has been described as “one of the strangest and most obsessive books ever written”