Confiscated Erotica Journal – Nude Photography

Eros: sborník pro sexualitu, pohlavní hygienu, kultura těla a umění [Eros: a journal of sexuality, sexual hygiene, body culture and art], vol. III, nos. 1–2 (1933).

Prague: V[áclav] Klimánek, 1930–1933. Octavo (20.4 × 14.3 cm). Original photo-illustrated staple-stitched wrappers; 40, [2] pp. Illustrated throughout from photographs and drawings. Very good or better.

Single issue of this early journal of nude photography and erotica in word and image, edited by the painter Václav Klimánek, who had already co-edited a far more understated journal of erotica in the mid-1920s, also titled Eros. The present work was possibly issued in collaboration with the sex-reformist and proprietor of the Hydiko House of Modern Cosmetics, František Trefný. Hydiko was founded in 1927 in Prague and Trefný concurrently published and distributed various short-lived erotic journals, ephemeral catalogs for sex toys and articles of personal hygiene, as well as nude photography. In one of his early journals he noted that “sexuality was, is, and will be the most topical life problem and the whole world revolves around it” (see Huebner 188). And with a frankness unusual for the time, his publications treat topics such as adultery, masturbation, and even homosexuality.

This issue features thirteen nude photographs on better stock (not attributed) and three linocut prints, also unattributed. With an article on the sex life of minors on post-revolutionary Russia, a short story by R. Samučič, an article on Gonorrhea, and a short article about the notion of "sex appeal."

Like other similar publications, especially those by Trefný, the holdings at the Czech National Library were at some point deaccessioned and are marked "odpis". As of January 2023, no copies found in KVK, OCLC.

Book ID: 52587

Price: $250.00