S.A. - Viaggio a Parigi - 1950

HARD CORE OF YESTERYEAR - THE MARQUIS AND THE LADIES: ITALIAN EROTICISM IN PARIS
Rare clandestine erotic booklet from the 1950s, attributed to Marquis de Cilly - a pseudonym. The booklet belongs to the postwar Italian pornographic production, characterized by minimal print runs, private distribution, and texts with strong sexual content. The work, with a direct tone and no literary allusions, describes with explicit language and anatomical details a series of erotic encounters set among Parisian hotels, salons, and boudoirs.
MARKET VALUE
Italian erotic booklets from the immediate postwar period constitute today a very sought-after sector in the collecting of forbidden literature. Complete copies, with original hard-core illustrations and intact covers, fall in a range between 350 and 700 euros, with higher figures for copies perfectly preserved or of collectible provenance (Private Library, etc.). The rarity and uncensored nature of the text contribute to increasing its value.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Trade paperback in beige paper with typographic border and black title. Sewn binding, 96 pp. Explicit full-page pornographic illustrations, printed in black and white on coated paper, with multiple pairings and group scenes. Well-preserved, complete and intact copy.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Marquis de Cilly
Viaggio a Parigi
s.l., s.n. [Italy, 1950s]

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Viaggio a Parigi belongs to the Italian realist erotic fiction of the 1950s, direct heir to the libertine nineteenth-century tradition and Parisian clandestine prints. The work reflects the double nature of an era caught between censorship and voyeuristic curiosity: public morality on one hand, and a growing interest in the graphic representation of sexual acts on the other. The tone is openly pornographic, with a description free of metaphors or euphemisms, and the iconographic apparatus is fully in the mid-century hard-core style.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Printed in Italy in anonymous form, with artisanal type operations, Viaggio a Parigi was part of editions intended for private circulation among collectors and enthusiasts. The printing, with no publisher or place indicated, is consistent with clandestine pornographic publications distributed discreetly through antiquarian bookstores and personal networks. Print runs rarely exceeded 300 copies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Not cataloged in national catalogs (SBN, BnF, OCLC).
Compared with the series “Bibliothèque du Faune” and “Bibliothèque Rose” (Italy/France, 1948–1956).
General references:
– Patrick Kearney, A History of Erotic Literature, London, 1982
– Jean-Jacques Pauvert, La littérature érotique moderne, Paris, 1960