Patrick J. Kearney - The Private Case - 1981

A well-known bibliographic reference work on a special collection of erotica at the British Library. Compiled by Patrick J. Kearney, with an introduction by G. Legman, published in London by J. Landesman Limited. First edition from 1981. Limited edition: copy no. 180 / 1000.

Octavo format, hardcover, no dust jacket, black cloth with silver lettering, 354 pages plus 6 unnumbered pages, with a pasted-in facsimile letter at the back, black boards with the title in silver on the spine.

The Private Case was a collection of erotica and pornography that was initially kept by the British Museum and from 1973 by the British Library. The collection originated between 1836 and 1870 and grew through additions via the legal deposit system, by legacies and sometimes by requests following police seizures of obscene material. From the nineteenth century onward, that material was kept separately in a locked cabinet, known as the "Private Case." Access was restricted and the catalog was not released to the general public of the library. Kearney's bibliography was groundbreaking at the time because it was the first to provide a detailed, annotated overview of exactly what was in this hidden collection.