Patrick J. Kearney

A Checklist of theErotic WorksOf

P i e r r e Lo u ÿ s

Scissors & Paste Bibliographies
Santa Rosa, CA
2019Introductory Note

So far as possible, the following pages contain a listing of all
the French language editions, both clandestine and ‘public’, ofthe erotic works of Pierre Louÿs that I have been able to locate.
It also conveniently illustrates the point of what I’ve called the‘Scissors & Paste Bibliographies.’
As a result of spending a good many years immersed in thehistory and foibles of erotic literature, it occurred to me that theexisting bibliographies and studies of the subject, while often
providing me with most of the information I’ve needed, nevertheless lacked certain precisions. Erotica possesses a number ofauthors, publishers and even individual books of such importance it seems unfortunate they don’t possess bibliographiesof their own. This is not an original idea of course, and some of
my earliest candidates for this have, in recent years, already been
dealt with; Henry Kistemæckers and August Poulet-Malassis,
two publishers working from Bruxelles in the middle to late
19th century, both had bio-bibliographies prepared of their life
and work by Collete Baudet1 and Jean-Jacques Launay2 respectively. Likewise, earlier, Domenico Fusco’s little catalogue of
editions of Gamiani3. Other examples could be cited, but it isclear that there is a market for this sort of thing.
However, getting them into print is always a problem; commercial publishers are wary of undertaking the expense of putting out bibliographies, especially if the subject is obscure andthe manuscript bulky, and brief monographs are equally tricky
to place for almost identical reasons, the difference being thatthey are too small to fit comfortably in a publisher’s catalogue.
2Personal circumstances are an additional obstacle, and onethat has more than anything else dictated the form my fledgling
series has taken. My subject matter and geographical location
prevent me from preparing bibliographies in anything like thetrue sense of the word; erotica as a subject for study has obvious
drawbacks under the most advantageous conditions, and while
Santa Rosa has a number of attractions to recommend it, notleast of which is the splendid climate which, despite my complaints, is more agreeable than London. However, it is not ideally suited to the amateur bibliographer who is obliged to dosomething else for a living. I have thus had to rely to a recklessextent on my own collection of reference books acquired while
I was still in London, forays to the Ruben Salazar Library at
Sonoma State University and the generosity of friends of likeinterests, most of whom are in Europe. My plan, then, has been
to produce at irregular intervals a series of checklists of particularauthors, publishers or individual titles in the field of erotica thatfor one reason or another have taken my fancy. They are not tobe considered true bibliographies, even if I’ve had the temerity
to call them that, since in many cases I have not been able tosee all the books in question and cannot as a result vouch forthe accuracy of my descriptions. But what I have sought to produce are catalogues or handlists which gather together in one
convenient place all the descriptions I have been able to locate
on the author or publisher or book in question, together withan indication of my source of information. This is not, it must
be repeated, bibliography, but really little more than cribbing,for which I make no apology, and it was this method of workor preparation that led me to adopt the name ‘Scissors & Paste
Bibliographies’ in order to more precisely spell out the natureof the venture. The value of this sort of checklist, as I havefound from personal experience with those drawn up informallyfor my own use, is that they relieve one of the tedium of having
to sort through several different sources for a specific reference.
3

Recalling that one once saw a description or discussion of a particular edition of some book or other is one thing, but finding
it is not always so easy. A ‘cheat-sheet’ directing one to the appropriate entry in Gay or Ashbee or Pia can be a great timesaver, and it is to be hoped that in some small way the Scissors& Paste Bibliographies’ provide this service.
The present checklist of Pierre Louÿs is as complete as I’ve
been able to make it, although given his popularity as a collectable author and the seemingly enormous volume of his unpublished manuscripts still extant it won’t be long before it is inneed of updating to accommodate new material. Indeed, shortly
after I began this Introduction a bookseller’s catalogue - ‘Books
on the History & Curiosities of the Oldest Obsession’ - arrived
from England in which yet a new érotique was announced, entitled L’Ile aux dames, presumably from the press of M. William
Théry who, in recent years, has been publishing inédites ofLouÿs in handsome limited editions that reflect the finer traditions of clandestine book production in France during the 1920s
and 30s4.
Before compiling this checklist, I made the decision to exclude foreign translations of Louÿs’erotica, even though it was
one such, a free rendition of Trois filles de leur mère with theauthorship credited to a wonderfully punning ‘Peter Lewys,’that first made me aware of his work5. My reason for this was
the unavailability of reliable references, particularly for German
editions. The Germans are extraordinarily efficient at bringing
out translations of the more important foreign erotica in theirown language, as a cursory look at J. Rives Childs bibliographyof Restif de la Bretonne will illustrate; practically every title
published by this prolific author has been translated into German, sometimes more than once, whereas the list of English
editions is scandalously brief 6.
Occasional references I’ve found in German bookseller’s catalogues, together with a handful of entries in the third volume4

of the Polunbi-Katalog7, have led me to suspect that German
publishers may have been as thorough with Louÿs as with Restif, but since my knowledge of German is extremely weak I am
unable to determine whether these scattered references concernLouÿs’ erotica or merely conventional translations of his ‘public’
canon. Under the circumstances, it seemed prudent to omittranslations altogether rather than make wild guesses. However,
if anybody reading these lines feels inclined to provide me withreliable information concerning translations - into any language- of Louÿs’ erotica, then I would seriously consider a revised
edition of this checklist at some point.
Another omission are details of the numerous manuscripts,
of works both published and unpublished, that on occasion appear at auction or in the rarely-published catalogues of private
collections. Some of these, as with the ms. of Pybrac describedin the Léonina catalogue, are evidently of great beauty, examples of fine calligraphy and often enriched with original watercolours. But these are not printed books, and as such are regrettably outside the scope of the present compilation8.

Notes

Colette Baudet, Grandeur et misères d’un éditeur belge; Henry
Kistemaeckers (1851-1934). Bruxelles: Editions Labor, 1986.
2
Jean-Jacques Launay, Impressions, Publications, Ecrits d’August
Poulet-Malassis. Published serially in eight numbers of the Bulletin di
Bibliophile, Paris 1979-82.
3
Domenico Fusco, Bibliografia ragionata del `Gamiani’ di deMusset. Torino: Berruto Editore, 1953.
4Concerning L’lle aux dames, I was seriously in error when sug1

gesting that it had been published by William Théry; at the time I had
not seen the book and speculated rashly. A description of the bookwill be found in its appropriate place in the checklist. The English
bookseller, Mr John Lyle, describes the volume thus in his catalogue:

5

“An unpublished sketch for a delirious novel, in which all his obsessions and talent for derision and provocation are displayed, in a blue
version of Verne’s Mysterious Island. An indispensable complement
to Trois filles de leur mère.”5‘Peter Lewys,’ The She Devils (Paris: Ophelia Press, 1958). The
translation was done by William Robinson. A more streamlined English version appeared at New York in 1969 from Grove Press, asMother’s Three Daughters with the translation credited to Sabine
D’Estrée, a pseudonym rumoured to conceal the wife of Richard
Seaver.
6
J. Rives Childs, Restif de la Bretonne, Témoignages et Jugements. Bibliographie. (Paris: Aux dépens d’auteur, en vente a la Librairie Briffaut, 1949).
7
The Pulunbi-Katalog was the secret German police list of prohibited books. It was first published in 1920, with a reprint in 1926
and two supplements in 1929 and 1936. A facsimile reprint of the 1936
Nachtrag was issued at Hamburg in 1986 by C. Bell Verlag, an eccentric publisher of obscure reference works; thanks to information received first from M. Michael Neal, a bookseller just outside Paris, I
discovered that they had published an index to the present author’s
The Private Case, a catalogue of the erotica in the British Library.
While agreeing that an index was necessary, and admiring their efficiency at a job well done, a letter asking my permission would havebeen polite, and at the least a complimentary copy of the book after it
was published.
8
To give an idea of these manuscripts, I reproduce the relevant
entry in the Léonina:
LOUYS (Pierre) | Pybrac | Calligraphié et illustré par GARI.
| 1945. In-8, demi-chagr. gris perle à bandes, dos avec deux
larges faux-nerfs, plats rhodoïd rouge, doré en tête, non rogné,
couv. et dos conservés; rel signée : BIANCHI.
EXEMPLAIRE UNIQUE remarquablement calligraphié endeux couleurs, noir et bleu, sur Vélin de Lana.
Collat. : 89 pp. (p. 90 blanche) tout compris; 1 f. avec la signature de l’artiste et la date.
1 vignette sur le titre et 40 dessins à l’encre de Chine, aquarellés, dans le texte. Ces illustrations libres sont exécutées dans un
esprit humoristique.

6

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS & REFERENCES

Bibliothèque ‘La Léonina’. III. Curiosa. Monte
Carlo, 1955. The catalogue of the erotica section of
the library of M. Arpad Plesch; compiled by
Jacques Pley.
Ex-Libris Roger Peyrefitte, auction catalogue of theerotic portion of Roger Peyrefitte’s library, Druout
Rive Gauche, Paris, January, 1977.
Pascal Pia, Les Livres de l’Enfer (Paris: Coulet &Faure, 1978). 2 volumes. – Essentially the catalogueof the Enfer erotica collection of the French national
library at Paris, with additional works describedfrom the compiler’s own collection and those of his
friends.
Patrick J. Kearney. The Private Case. An Annotated
Bibliography of the erotica collection of the British(Museum) Library (London: Jay Landesman,1981).
The four preceding titles were the main source of myinformation for drawing up this little checklist. Other
sources include the catalogues of booksellers and auction
houses too numerous to reasonably list here, although themost important will be found credited in the text.
For help of a more personal nature, the following individuals, who wrote to me with valuable pieces of information, suggested corrections in my MS or allowed me
access to their collections, must to be credited with warm
7

appreciation: the late Gérard Nordmann, of Geneva. - Michael Neal, of Feugères St.-Yon. - H. L. van der Kamp, ofLeiden. - Hartmut-Ortwin Feistel, of Berlin. - Karl-Ludwig Leonhardt, of Hamburg. - Peter Mendes and Neil
Crawford, both of London.
Only I am responsible for the finished text, however.

8

APHRODITE

1. *APHRODITE. Mœurs antiques. Edition intégrale,comprenant des passages libres inédits et illustrée deseize gravures au burin et à l’eau forte. **[Pascal Pia]NOTES SUR APHRODITE. Accompagnées dequatre pages inédites reproduites en facsimilé. Tiflis[Paris]: Bagration Davidoff, éditeur [René Bonnel &Pascal Pia], 1928. 8vo. 3 vols. pp. 170,176,46. Sixteen
engravings by Serge Czerefkov. Limited to 166 copies.
[Compiler’s collection; Pia, 70,71.] *** FIRST COMPLETE EDITION
2. APHRODITE. Mœurs antiques. Edition intégrale,comprenant des passages libres inédits reproduits en facsimile. Illustrée de 32 lithos [by Georges Villa]. [?Paris:]
Aux dépens d’un amateur, 1938. 8vo. pp. 150,198. 200
copies. 16 on Large Paper. [Compiler’s collection; Pia,71,2].

9

AU TEMPS DES JUGES

3. AU TEMPS DES JUGES. Chants bibliques de PierreLouÿs. [?Paris:] Aux dépens d’un amateur, 1933. 4to.
pp. 60. Double set of 12 etchings [by André Collot].
Limited to 175 copies. [Pia, 95.] *** FIRST EDITION.
4. [Au temps des juges.] CHANTS BIBLIQUES. Au
temps des juges. [?Paris:] Aux dépens d’un amateur,
1933 [1935?]. 4to. pp. 64. Limited to 175 copies. A piracy of the preceding entry. The Achevé d’imprimer
gives July 30, 1930. [Pia, 214; Peyrefitte, 129, callingfor 12 coloured erotic etchings; compiler’s collection.]

10

CHANSONS DE BILITIS

5. CHANSONS DE BILITIS… seul texte véritable etcomplet. [Paris:] Imprimé à Mitylène pour les amis deBilitis, l’an 1929. 4to. pp. 56. Limited to 25 copies. [Pia,192,4.]
6. CHANSONS SECRETES DE BILITIS, (Les). Paris:
Devambez, 1933. “Avec 6 illustrations gravées à l’eauforte de Edouard Chimot, en deux états, plus une
planche libre ajoutée, à la pointe sèche. Un des 75
exempl. sur Japon sous double emboitage.” [Alain
Kahn-Sriber, cat. 1977.]
7. CHANSONS SECRETES DE BILITIS, (Les). Illustré
de six compositions originales gravées par Chimot. [Argenteuil, 1933.] 4to. pp. 72. Six etchings by Edouard
Chimot. “Achevé d’imprimer le vingt juillet mil neuf
cent trente trois, à Argenteuil, sur les presses du Maître
imprimeur R. Coulouma. H. Barthélemy, directeur.”[Pia, 210.]

11

8. CHANSONS SECRETES DE BILITIS. [?Paris:] Aux
Dépens d’un amateur, 1935. Pet. 4to. pp. 92, en ff., ch.,étui. “12 ill. coloriées [by Jean Bercque], suite monochrome et suites des 6 pl. refusées, rehaussées. [Limited
to 110 copies, of which this is] un des 32 ex. num. survélin de Lana (éd. 99).” [Lot 502 of the catalogue of theCollection of Monsieur F***, auctioned Feb. 24th
1986 at Paris, at the Nouveau Drouot, salle 8; and Danuta Cichocka, Fata Libelli, Paris, catalogue # 7, 1987.
A copy of what would seem to be this edition was offered for auction in December 1994 at Drouot Richelieu, Paris, in which the limitation is stated to comprise“109 exemplaires sur papier pur fil à la forme.”]9. CHANSONS SECRETES DE BILITIS, (Les). Avantpropos de G.-C. Serrière. “Illustré de 24 eaux-fortes encouleurs par P.-E. Bécat.” Paris: Lubineau (1938). 4to.
pp. 111 (p. 112 blank). Limited to 470 copies. [Pia,210,211. ]10. CHANSONS SECRETES DE BILITIS, (Les). Paris:
Au cercle du livre précieux [Claude Tchou], 1961.
12mo. pp. 34. Part of the series Ecrin secret du bibliophile. Limited to 1500 copies. [Pia, 213,4. Compiler’scollection.]– See also: VERITABLES CHANSONS DE BILITIS,(Les).
– CHANTS BIBLIQUES. See: Au temps des juges.

12

CYDALISE

11. CYDALISE. Avec des [16] illustrations originales gravées à l’eau-forte [by Jean Traynier]. Paris: Les Amis del’Ecrivain, 1949. 4to. “Edition originale, tirée a 265 copies.” [Pia, 279,80.] *** FIRST EDITION.

13

Deux filles de leur père

12. DEUX FILLES DE LEUR PERE. Roman libre inédit.
Postface de Jean-Paul Goujon. Paris : Editions Bartillat,
2019. 8vo. pp. 117. Limited to 99 copies.
I am grateful to Gert Flik for drawing my attention to this work,and supplying the titlepage scan.

14

DOUZE DOUZAINS DE DIALOGUES

13. DOUZE DOUZAINS DE DIALOGUES, ou petites
scènes amoureuses. n.p., n.d. [Paris: Robert Télin,1927.] 4to. pp. 65. Twelve coloured etchings, one on
the titlepage, ascribed to André Collot. The text is reproduced in facsimile from the manuscript of the author. Limited to 100 copies on Japon Supernacré.
[Compiler’s collection. Pia, 358,9.] ***FIRST EDITION.
14. DOUZE DOUZAINS DE DIALOGUES OU PETITES SCENES AMOUREUSES. Illustré de 12eaux-fortes de André Collot. n.p., n.d. [Paris: 1929.]
8vo. pp. 139. [Private Case, 1053.]
15. [Douze douzains de dialogues.] SCENES DE PERIPATETICIENNES. [quotation in Greek characters.]
MCMIII. n.p. [Paris? c. 1937.] 8vo. pp. 132. Limited
to 200 copies. [Pia, 359,360; “Contrefaçon de l’édition
de 1927” - Lot 499 of the catalogue of the Collectionof Monsieur F***, auctioned Feb. 24th 1986 at Paris,at the Nouveau Drouot, salle 8.]1516. [Douze douzains de dialogues, extracts.] CINQUANTE DIALOGUES. A Cythère: 1940. 8vo. en
ff. non coupé. Limited to 280 copies. Each dialogue isaccompanied by an erotic plate. [Cat. of Jean-Pierre
Dutel.]
17. [Douze douzains de dialogues.] DIALOGUES, OU
PETITES SCENES AMOUREUSES. Lorient: Edité
sous le manteau, 1943 4to. pp. 124. 12 plates in b&w
and many vignettes. Text encadré. In plain card slipcase. Limited to 153 copies, of which 3 are on Archesà la forme and 150 on Rives pur fil. [Compiler’s collection.]
18. DOUZE DOUZAINS. . . Illusts. de V. . . n.p., 1953.
8vo. pp. 24. Limited to 500 copies on Lana pur Chiffon. [Pia, 360.61.]
19. DOUZE DOUZAINS. . . n.p., 1953. 4to. pp. 88.
With 12 illustrations by André Collot reproduced fromthe edition of 1929 above. [Description supplied by acollector.]

16

FARIZADE

20. FARIZADE ou les Vœux Innocents - Conte Moral par
Mesdames Anaïs Ségalas et Zénaïde Fleuriot [in collaboration with Louis Loviot]. À Bagdad [Muizon, Al’écart], 1984. 4to. pp. 30.

17

LA FEMME

21. FEMME, (La). 39 Poèmes érotiques inédits avec 16
dessins de l’auteur reproduits en facsimile et 1 portrait
gravé par P.-A. Laurens. Mytilène [Paris]: A l’Enseignede Bilitis [Georges Briffaut & Louis Perceau], 1938.
8vo. pp. 96. Preface signed “L. P.” [i.e., Louis Perceau].
Limited to 10 copies on Japon ancien and 250 copies
on Vélin de Rives. [Compiler’s collections Pia,
460,61.] FIRST EDITION.

18

HISTOIRE DU ROI GONZALVE

22. HISTOIRE DU ROI GONZALVE ET DES
DOUZE PRINCESSES. Madrid [Paris]: aux dépens
d’un bibliophile[René Bonnel, 1927]. 8vo. pp. 69.
Limited to 100 copies only. [Compiler’s collection;
Perceau 388; La Léonina, p. 89.] FIRST EDITION.
23. HISTOIRE DU ROI GONZALVE ET DES
DOUZE PRINCESSES. Madrid [Paris?]: aux dépens
d’un bibliophile [René Bonnel, c. 1932]. 8vo. pp. 129.
Nine plates attributed to A. Brouet. Limited to 205
copies. [Private Case, 1054,5; two variant copies.]
24. HISTOIRE DU ROI GONZALVE ET DES
DOUZE PRINCESSES. Illustré de 6 compositions
hors texte libres en couleurs [by P.-E. Bécat]. Liège[Paris]: aux dépens d’un dilettante [Georges Briffaut],
1935 [c.1950]. Pet. 4to. pp. 80. Limited to 171 copies.
[Coulet et Faure, Paris, cat. no. 150.]
A copy of this edition belonging to the late Gershon Legman, andannotated by him with the details of its publication, was offered forsale by Dailey Rare Books of Los Angeles in May, 2004.

19

25. HISTOIRE DU ROI GONZALVE ET DES
DOUZE PRINCESSES / Pybrac / La Femme. Paris:
La Musardine, 1996. 8vo. pp. 190. Illustrated wrappers.
One of the ‘Lectures amoureuses de Jean-Jacques Pauvert.’ [Compiler’s collection.]

20

L’ILE AUX DAMES

26. L’ILE AUX DAMES. Ebauche pour un roman érotique. Préface de Christian Collinet. [?Paris:] Les Editions 1900, 1988. 8vo. pp. 180. Contains four originalpieces: L’Ile aux Dames. - La retourne. - Christine. Dialogues. [Compiler’s collection.]
After establishing that L’Ile aux Dames at least was probably composed between 1911 and 1914, a footnote to M. Collinet’s Préface
gives details for the source of the texts: “Précisions en effet que nous
donnons le texte de L’Ile d’après une copie dactylographiée faite parG. Serrières, dernier secrétaire de l’ecrivain, copie à laquelle se trouvent jointes quatre photographies de pages du mansucrit (coll. de P.
Zanzibar). Les autres textes sont établis sur les originaux autographes
de Louÿs (coll. P. Zanzibar, et, pour La Retourne, coll. G. Nordmann).”

21

JEUNES FILLES

27. JEUNES FILLES. [The titlepage headed: Inédits dePierre Louÿs.] Dessins de Roger Descombes. n.p., n.d.
[Genève, Suisse: Roger Descombes c. 1978]. Pet. 4to.
Two prefaces, of pp. 2 each, by Gabriel Matzneff andPaul Klein printed on lilac paper. pp. 104 of text, in
facsimile of the author’s autograph, interspersed withdrawings by Roger Descombes. These texts and illustrations are printed in silver on black paper. After thesecond preface, there is one drawing by Descombes
with the manuscript lines: “C’est avec amour que je
publie cet inédit de Pierre Louÿs, mais en gardant mes
mains libres, ne me préoccupant pas du sexe de ces
Anges.” The text of this work is from the collection of
M. Gérard Nordmann, of Geneva. [Description supplied by a collector.]*** FIRST EDITION.

22

MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ

28. MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ POUR LES PETITESFILLES, à l’usage des maisons d’éducation. n.p., n.d.
[Paris: Simon Kra, 1926.] 16mo. pp. 180. Limited to
600 copies. [Compiler’s collection; Pia 800,1.]***FIRST EDITION.
29. [A variant of the preceding.] MANUEL DE CIVILITÉPOUR LES PETITES FILLES, à l’usage des maisonsd’éducation. n.p, n.d. [Paris: Simon Kra, 1926.] 16mo.
pp. 180. Printed on paper watermarked ALFAX NAVARRE, with 12 coloured etchings belonging to thebook on different paper but with the same watermark.
[Description supplied by a collector.]
30. MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ POUR LES PETITESFILLES. n.p., [?Paris:] June, 1927. Pet. 8vo. pp. 95.
Limited to 200 copies. [Description supplied by a collector.]
31. MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ POUR LES PETITESFILLES, à l’usage des maisons d’éducation. Bruxelles:
23

1919 [Paris? c. 1930]. 8vo. pp. 128. 12 illustrations by
Martin Van Maele, extracted from La Grande dansemacabre des vifs [Paris? Carrington? c. 1907]. Limited
to 400 copies. [Note: the false impress ‘Bruxelles, 1919’
appears only on the front wrapper. Catalogue of JeanPierre Dutel, calling for 12 plates by Martin Van Maele;
Pia 801,2, making no mention of plates.]
32. MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ POUR LES PETITESFILLES, à l’usage des maisons d’éducation. n.p.,n.d.
[Paris? c. 1930.] 8vo. pp. 177. Limited to 600 copies.
[Private Case, 1056.]
33. MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ POUR LES PETITESFILLES, à l’usage des maisons d’éducation. Londres[Nice]: 1948. 8vo. pp. 104. 12 coloured plates `au pochoir.’ Limited to 299 copies. [Pia, 802.]
34. MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ POUR LES PETITESFILLES, à l’usage des maisons d’éducation. Illustré de 4
hors-texte [by Sternberg?]. n.p., n.d. [Paris? c. 1950.]
Limited to 275 copies. 8vo. pp. 76.[Alain Kahn-Sriber,cat. 1977; Pia, 802,3.]
35. [Manuel de civilité pour les petites filles.] CONSEILSA UNE PETITE FILLE. Pour un groupe d’amateurs.
n.p., n.d. [Paris? c. 1950.] 16mo. pp. 93. Printed inblue. Limited to 250 copies. [Pia, 803.]
36. MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ POUR LES PETITESFILLES, à l’usage des maisons d’éducation. [Paris:] Jérôme Martineau [1960]. 8vo. pp. 90. [Pia,803,4.]
37. MANUEL DE CIVILITÉ POUR LES PETITESFILLES, à l’usage des maisons d’éducation. [Paris:] Baudouin [1979]. Pet. 4to. pp. 91. [Compiler’s collection.]– See also: VERITABLES CHANSONS DE BILITIS.
24

MANUEL DE GOMORRHE

38. MANUEL DE GOMORRHE, suivi de divers textes
inédits et illustré de photographies prises par l’auteur.
Cuba [Reims]: A L’enseigne de la porte étroite [William Théry], 1991. 8vo. pp. 127. Frontispiece, fiveplates and one vignette, all reproduced from photographs taken by Louÿs. Limited to “trois fois vingt-trois
exemplaires sur papier chiffon, non mis dans le commerce.” [Compiler’s collection.]

25

LES MÉMOIRES DE JOSEPHINE

39. MÉMOIRES DE JOSEPHINE, (Les). Suivie de Filles
de ferme et de Paroles. n.p. 1894. [Muizon: William
Théry, 1984.] 4to. pp. 65. Preface signed “La Petit
Neveu de Baffo” [J.-P. Goujon]. Limited to 200 copies,
numbered 1-200. Deluxe edition limited to 30 copies
on vélin d’Arches, with six etchings by Ginko Honjo.
Entire issue printed by Théry; trade edition publishedby Théry, but de-luxe edition published by the Parisbookseller and amateur Jean-Pierre Dutel. [Copies seenat shop of M. Dutel at Paris, September 1985; compiler’s collection, ordinary issue.]*** FIRST EDITION.

26

L’ŒUVRE ÉROTIQUE

40. L’ŒUVRE ÉROTIQUE. Edition établie et presentéepar Jean-Paul Goujon. [Paris:] éditions Sortilèges, 1994.
8vo. pp. 1083. Ill. & facsimiles. Apricot cloth boards.
[Compiler’s collection.]
41. L’ŒUVRE ÉROTIQUE. Edition établie et presentéepar Jean-Paul Goujon. Paris: R. Laffont, 2012. 8vo. pp.
1027.
Not seen, but from information supplied by Gert Flik and the internet, this edition would seem to be a more expanded collection
than the preceding.

27

PASTICHES ET PARODIES

42. PASTICHES ET PARODIES. Edition originale augmentée de 4 photos inédites prises par Pierre Louÿs etd’un fac-simile. Muizon: A L’Ecart [William Théry],1981. Pet. 8vo. Unpaged, but pp. [30] inclusive. Frontispiece by Serge Czerefkov from the “Tiflis” edition ofLouÿs’ Aphrodite, 4 photographs and a facsimile of 2
verses of one of the poems in the author’s autograph.
Limited to 250 copies on vergé de Lana, 50 of whichwere “pour le compte des Editions Gala Verlag, à Hamburg.” [Compiler’s collection.]*** FIRST EDITION.

28

PETITES MIETTES AMOUREUSES

43. PETITES MIETTES AMOUREUSES. *Poëmes
libres. Edition originale ornée en frontispice d’une photographie inédite prise par P. L. - **Deux contes. Edition originale autographiée. [With a ‘Prefacette’ signed
Jean Carlier.] A Reims: Sur les Presses de l’Imprimerie
Particulière du Palais du Tau [William Théry], 1976
[1987]. Gr. 8vo. Two parts, en ƒƒ, pp. 42, 27. Photographic frontispiece and vignette on front wrapper.
Limited to 175 copies on Vélin Ivoire des papeteries
Maraud-Hardi. [Compiler’s collection.]
Accompanying this most elegant work, whose execution is a true
reflection of the clandestine erotica publishing of the 1920’s and
30’s, is a black card box containing twenty-five erotic postcards that
had originally belonged to Louÿs. The box carries a label reading:Collection secrète d’un auteur célèbre - 1976. A descriptive notewith the postcards is signed Robert Parville. Both the texts and thephotographs are from the collection of M. Gérard Nordmann, of
Geneva. *** From a catalogue issued in early 1987 by William
Théry’s Editions A L’Ecart: Ces “petites miettes” sont en fait copieuses puisqu’elles se composent d’une vingtaine de poèmes libres
inédits, parfois reproduits en fac-similé, et de deux contes publiées29en édition autographiée. Dans un petit coffret noir joint à cet ouvrage, l’amateur découvira la “Collection secrète d’un auteur célèbre”: 25 cartes postales reproduisant à la fois des photographies
prises par P. L. et des photographies provenant de sa collection personelle. En frontispice, un véritable retirage photographique d’untrès beau nu saisi par le Kodak de notre auteur. Cette édition est
tirée à seulement à 200 exemplaires sur vélin ivoire. Prix: 360 F.
(En préparation. . . parution début avril [1987]).

30POÈMES INEDITS

44. POÈMES INEDITS 1887-1924. Eaux-fortes originales
de Edouard Chimot. n.p. [?Paris:] 1938. 4to. pp. 67.
[Bound together with:] POÈMES INEDITS [-]POÉSIES LIBRES 1887-1924. n.d., n.p. 4to. pp. 40.
Notice of limitation (in vol. 1): Limited to 97 copies
and with 12 others reserved for those involved in the
publication of the book. In all, 10 coloured etchings by
Chimot. [Description supplied by a collector.]31POÈMES ÉROTIQUES INEDITS

45. POÈMES ÉROTIQUES INEDITS. Avec douze lithographies hors texte [?by Boletti]. Préface de G. H.
[Georges Hugnet]. Paris [Nice: André Bottin]: 1945 [c.
1955]. Gr. 4to. Limited to 190 copies. Printed throughout in violet, in facsimile of Louÿs’ original holographtext. [Compiler’s collection.]

32

POÉSIES

46. POÉSIES. édition établie, présentée et annotée parJean-Paul Goujon. [Paris:] Jean-Jacques Pauvert et Cie,
1988. 8vo. pp. [vi]+9-391+[vii]. [Compiler’s collection.]
A most important and carefully prepared anthology of Louÿs’ verse
including, amongst the erotic material, Le Trophée des vulves legendaires, La Femme, an expanded text of Pybrac and a fine selectionof Poésies libres, a number of which appear in print here for the first
time.

33

POÉSIES ÉROTIQUES

47. POÉSIES ÉROTIQUES. Imprimé à Liège [Paris:
René Bonnel], 1927. 12mo. pp. 71. Limited to 69 copies. [Pia, 1068.]
48. POÉSIES ÉROTIQUES d’un auteur célèbre, illustréesde trente-deux lithographies originales dessinées par un
artiste inconnu [Marcel Vertès]. Barcelone: Atarazanas(Barrio Chino), l’an I de la République Catalane. [Paris:
René Bonnel, 1932.] 4to. pp. [92], unnumbered. Limited to 165 copies, plus 5 hors commerce. [Pia, 1068,9;
La Léonina, p. 94,5.]“Cette édition a été imprimée à Paris par Massol, imprimeur, rue
Tourlaque, pour le texte, et par Mme Duchatel, rue Henri Monnier, pour les lithographies de Vertès - extracted from Pascal Pia,
Lettre sur les premières éditions d’érotiques de Pierre Louÿs [Muizon:] Editions A L’Ecart [William Théry], 1985.

49. POÉSIES ÉROTIQUES de Pierre Louÿs. Rome:
1937. 8vo. pp. 71 with 71 drawings by Rojan printed
in red. p. 71 is unnumbered, but carries a vignette. Limited to 311 copies. [Description supplied by a collector.]
34

50. POÉSIES ÉROTIQUES. Illustrées de vingt pointessèches par un artiste inconnu. Aux Dépens d’un Ama-

teur Chihuahua - Mexique: L’an I de la IVe République. [Paris? c. 1935.] 4to. Unpaged. White wrappers,
printed in black, in imitation vellum folder and slipcase.
Limited to 350 copies. [Seen at shop of J.-P. Dutel,
Paris, in September, 1985; lot 504 the catalogue of theCollection of Monsieur F***, auctioned Feb. 24th
1986 at Paris, at the Nouveau Drouot, salle 8 states thatthe illustrations to this edition of by Berthommé Saint
André.]

35

POÉSIES LYRIQUES

51. POÉSIES LYRIQUES. Revue Dragée Haute No. 10,
Castelnau-de- Montmiral, January, 1989. [Cited by
Goujon in the bibliography to L’Œuvre érotique of
Pierre Louÿs ([Paris:] éditions Sortilèges, 1994, p.
1066.]36PYBRAC

52. PYBRAC. Poésies. Cythère [Paris:] au coq hardi [RenéBonnel & Pascal Pia], 1927. Pet. 16mo. pp. 98. The
titlepage is decorated with an etching by Foujita. Limited to 105 copies. [Pia, 1117.]*** FIRST EDITION.
53. PYBRAC. Illustré de trente pointes sèches d’un artiste
inconnu [Marcel Vertès]. Paris: aux dépens d’un amateur, 1928. 4to. pp. 79. Frontispiece, 10 etchings and20 illustrations in the text. Limited to 30 copies. [Pia.
1117,8.]54. PYBRAC, quatrains, ornés de 31 compositions par un
artiste inconnu [Marcel Vertès]. A Narbonne [?Paris]:pour les Soeurs des Ursulines [1928]. Pet. 4to. pp. 87.
Limited to 225 copies. 20 of the illustrations are in text,
and 11 hors-texte. [La Léonina pp. 91,2.]
55. PYBRAC. “s.l., n.d. (Septembre 1930). Avec 10 des
illustrations indiquées ci-dessus, mais en reproduction
et en noire et blanc. Un des 150 exemplaires sur hollande. Relié.” [Alain Kahn-Sriber, cat. 1977.]3756. PYBRAC. Prag: Soukromy Tisk, 1932. 8vo. pp. 77.
Ten plates, unsigned, but by the surrealist artist Toyen.
Limited to 300 copies. Text in Czech. [Listed for saleon the internet by Antiqariat Ars Amandi, Berlin, May
2004.]
57. [Pybrac.] PIBRAC. édition augmentée et ornée denombreuses aquarelles. Londres: 1933. 4to. pp. 91. 20
watercolour plates [by Marcel Stobbaerts]. Limited to
175 copies on vélin-teinte. [Private Case, 1058, wanting ten of the plates.]
58. [Pybrac.] PIBRAC. Quatrains érotiques. [Paris?] Aux
depens d’un amateur pour le profit de quelques autres,
1933 [1934]. 8vo. pp. 78. Frontispiece, 19 plates, 4 bandeaux and 4 culs-de-lampe. Limited to 308 copies. [Pia,1118,9.]59. [Pybrac.] PIBRAC. édition augmentée et ornée deVingt aquarelles [by Marcel Stobbaerts]. Paris [c. 1935].
8vo. pp. 127. 250 copies. Broché. [Compiler’s collection; cat. of Jean-Pierre Dutel, and letter from Michael
Neal, October 26, 1986. The plates in this edition are
the same as for the “Londres” edition of 1933, above.]
60. PIBRAC. Londres: J.-H. Smith, éditeur d’Art, 1939.
Gr. 8vo. pp. 122. 12 coloured plates [by Stobbaerts].
Red wrappers, printed in black. Limited to 375 copies.
[La Léonina, p. 92.]
61. PYBRAC. 140 quatrains. Paris: 1946. 4to. Unpaged. 9
watercolour plates. Limited to 51 copies. [Private Case,
1060.]
62. PYBRAC [par] Pélouisse. Quatrains. Eropolis [c.
1950.] 16mo. pp. 58. [Pia, 1120. This edition is dated,
falsely, “Janvier 1934” in the colophon.]38

63. PIBRAC. n.p., 19XX [Paris? Eric Losfeld? c.1950].
Pet. 4to. pp. 68. Edition for colportage.
- Seen at shop of J.-P. Dutel, Paris, in September, 1985. I am
obliged to M. Dominique Paillard for drawing my attention to my
misspelling of the title of this edition – as ‘Pybrac’ – and for also
generously supplying me with the accompanying graphic. The suggestion that this edition was published by Eric Losfeld was made to
me by M. Bernard Waterlot of Librairie L’Oiseau-Lire, Mons, Belgium, who kindly informed me that he has a copy in which
Losfeld’s name has been added in a manuscript note.

64. [Pybrac.] JE N’AIME PAS A VOIR [-] PIBRAC [-] A
L’USAGE DES MAISONS D’EDUCATION. [Paris:]Jérôme Martineau, 1970. 8vo. Unpaged. Illustrated
with vignettes taken from non-erotic books of the period c. 1890. [Compiler’s collection.]
65. PYBRAC. [?Paris:] Climats, 1994. Pet. 4to. pp. 80.
Pictorial wrappers. Part of the ‘Collection le Sourire
Vertical.’ Printed April 27th 1994 by Impr. A. Robertat Marseille. [Coll. Of Neil Crawford, London.]39

LE SENTIMENT DE LA FAMILLE

66. LE SENTIMENT DE LA FAMILLE. Ilustré par ErichVon Götha. Préface de Jean-Paul Goujon. Paris: Editions Astarté, 1996. 8vo. Unpaged. Illustrated wrappers.
Limited to 1500 numbered copies. [Compiler’s collection.]
A brief, obscene play in five scenes. The Introduction suggests that
it was an uncompleted project, a notion that is supported by thewords ‘Act One’ which head the piece. The text is in French andEnglish, the English version being by Wendy Parramore. I am indebted to Mr. Jan Moret of Gouda, Holland, for drawing my attention to this item.

40

67. LES SŒURS A L’ENVERS, et autres textes inédits.
Edition établie et présentée par Alexandre Dupouy. Paris : la Musardine, 2013. 8vo. pp. 217.
Reprinted in the same year by le Grand livre du mois, and again in
2021 by la Musardine. My attention was drawn to this work by Gert
Flik, who points out that ‘textes inédits’ is not strictly speaking correct. One of the items included in the anthology is Le sentiment dela famille which was first published in 1996 by Astarté. Another, thetitle story, Les sœurs à l’envers, was originally published as La retourne in L'Île aux dames (Paris: Les éditions 1900, 1988).

41

LA SOLISTE

68. SOLISTE, (La). 41 poèmes libres inédits illustrés dephotographies inédites prises par Pierre Louÿs etd’autres documents d’époque. Se Trouve Partout etNulle Part [Muizon, William Théry], 1983. Pet. 4to.
pp. 58. Avant-lire signed “Un Bibliophile bordelais.”
Fourteen pages of obscene photographs covering theperiod c. 1870-1920. Limited to 250 copies on Vergé
Chiffon. [Compiler’s collection.]*** FIRST EDITION.

42

SONNETS LIBERTINS

69. SONNETS LIBERTINS. Illustrés de 30 photographiesérotiques inédites de la Belle-époque. étoille-Rhône:éditions Zadora, 1993. 8vo. pp. [3]-63+[3]. Photographic wrappers. Twenty-eight sonnets and thirty obscene photographs. [Compiler’s collection.]Contents: Hôtel de l’écu. - Lectures. - Nini. - Conseil. - Pistil. -Pucelles. - Boniment. - Pont Royal. - Florilège. - Mouche. - Valseuse. - Le Clitoris. - Main de Branlée. - élisabeth. - Cydalise. - La
Nuit d’Avril. - élévation. - Couturière. - Le Baiser entre les jambes.
- Le Doigt dans le vagin. - En Levrette. - à une mère. - Les Vieux.
- Les Sœurs incestueuses. - Cadet Rousselle. - Lola. - Saint Vierge.
- à Bicyclette.

43

TOINON

70. Toinon. Conte inédit. [Reims: à l’écart] 1991. Written
partly in English. [Cited by Goujon in the bibliography
to L’Œuvre érotique of Pierre Louÿs ([Paris:] éditions
Sortilèges, 1994, p. 1066.]

44

TRENTE-DEUX QUATRAINS

71. TRENTE-DEUX QUATRAINS DE P. L. illustrés[avec 33 planches gravées en couleurs] par un artiste
connu [Marcel Vertès]. A Lesbos en 1927. 4to.[Peyrefitte 128.]45

TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE72. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Aux dépens d’unamateur et pour ses amis [Paris: René Bonnel & Pascal
Pia, 1926]. Gr. 8vo. pp. 361. Reproduced in facsimileof the author’s MS. [Compiler’s collection.] ***FIRST EDITION.
The first edition of Trois filles de leur mère was printed on paper
watermarked with the author’s name spelled backwards - “Syuol
Erreip.” A short while afterwards, a contrafaçon was struck off,
identical in all respects to the true first except that it lacked thiswatermark. Who was responsible for this piracy is unknown, andeven the claim that Bonnel and Pia did the first is speculation; G.
Legman, in a letter to the compiler dated November 2 1987, wrotethat he believed the original edition to have been “done by abookseller on the Seine quais in Paris.”

73. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Tome premier [ second]. Aux dépens d’un amateur et pour ses amis.
[c.1930?] 8vo. Two vols. pp. 96, 106. Illustrated witherotic vignettes by André Collot. Limited to 150 copies. [Pia, 1339.]

4674. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. n.p., n.d. [Berlin:
Officina Serpentis, c.1932] 8vo. pp. 302. Limited to
250 copies. [Compiler’s collection.]
Concerning this edition of Trois filles de leur mère, I am indebted
to Dr. Hartmut-Ortwin Feistel of Berlin for drawing my attention
to the following item in an unnamed German bookseller’s catalogue: “815.…Berlin: Officina Serpentis, about 1932. DM 290. Private Press publication, handprinted by W. Tieffenbach, 225 numbered copies on Van Gelder mould paper (total print run 250 copies). Not traceable in any bibliography. Edited by Tieffenbach anonymously, but it can be proved that he sold copies to selected friendsaround 1932. File copy, without number. Good, unopened copy.”
Dr. Feistel adds in his letter dated Jan. 7th. 1988: “I am inclined to
to doubt that this volume was handprinted; handset, maybe.” Myoriginal informant on this edition believed the book to have been
published a little earlier, perhaps in 1929.

75. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Martinique: Mont
Pelé. [Anvers, c. 1934.] 8vo. pp. 199. [British Library :P.C.13.de.5.]
76. TROIS FILLES ET LEUR MÈRE. Bruxelles: Editions du Grand Cerf [c. 1935?]. 8vo. pp. 200. Limited
to 350 copies. “Ce célèbre texte érotique est illustré de16 grands dessins de Vertès.” - sale catalogue of Bibliothèque M.G. Première Partie, Litterature Galante et
Erotique du XVIIIe au XXe siècles. Nouveau Drouot,
Salle No. 11, 13 May 1982. [Pia, 1339.]
77. TROIS FILLES ET LEUR MÈRE. Paris: A l’enseignede la maison perdue, 308 rue Saint-Jacques [1950]. 8vo.
pp. 296. Limited to 500 copies. [Compiler’s collection;
Pia, 1340.]
78. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. A l’enseigne duChat pour Chat, 1897 [c. 1955]. 8vo. pp. 193. 16 colour plates by Jean Berque. [Pia, 1340.]47

79. 3 FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Cet ouvrage a été réalisé
exclusivement pour un groupe de bibliophiles, 1897 [c.
1955]. 8vo. pp. 151. 12 Coloured etchings by Chimot.
Limited to 350 copies. [Pia, 1340,1341.]
80. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Aux dépens d’unamateur et pour ses amis, n.d. [c. 1960?] 8vo. pp. 194(numbered 9-202). Page 203 has an aquarelle, and p.
204 is blank. “Illustré d’aquarelles reproduites au pochoir [by Rojan].” Limited to 200 copies. [Pia, 1341.]
81. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Préface d’André
Pieyre de Mandiargues. [Paris:] L’Or du temp/Régine
Deforges, 1970 [1971]. 8vo. pp. 302. [Compiler’s collection; Pia 1341,2.]
82. TROIS FILLES ET LEUR MÈRE. [Montréal, Qué.:]Publications Avant-Gardistes Inc.[1972]. 8vo. pp.
220+[iv] of advertisements. [Compiler’s collection.]
83. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Paris: Eurodif,
1975. 8vo. pp. 186. [Bibliothèque Nationale, 8- Y290000 (929,3).]
84. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Paris: Eurodif,
1976. 8vo. pp. 212. [Pia, 1343.]
85. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. préface d’André
Pieyre de Mandiargues. [Bagneux]: Le Livre de Paris,
1977. 22cm. Pp. 275. Printed in Ireland! [Bibliothèque
Nationale, 8-Y2- 90000 (1724).]
86. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Hors-texte… deJean Retailleau. Genève : éditions Famot,, 1978. 17
cm. Pp. 264. [Bibliothèque Nationale, 16- Y2- 43984.]
87. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Préface de Catherine Caubère. [Paris:] J.-C. Lattès, 1979. 19 cm. Pp.
252. [Bibliothèque Nationale, 16- Z- 21481 (5).]48

88. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Paris: Eurodif,
1980. 8vo. pp. 186. Part of the collecton Aphroditeclassique. [Compiler’s collection.]
89. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. [Paris:] JeanJacques Pauvert et Cie, 1988. 8vo. pp. [vi]+v+[14][302]. [Compiler’s collection.] *** The Avant-Propos
is titled Pierre Louÿs redécouvert, and signed `J.-J. Pauvert et Cie.’
90. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Paris : éd. Allia,
1993. 22 cm. Pp. 210. [Bibliothèque Nationale, 8- Y2110300.]
91. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE. Paris: UGE, 1994.
18 cm. Pp. 210. Printed in England! Part of the collection ‘10/18. Domaine français.’ [Bibliothèque Nationale, 16- Z- 9793 (2472).]
92. TROIS FILLES DE LEUR MÈRE / Manuel de Civilité / Douze Douzains de Dialogues. Paris: La Musardine, 1998. 8vo. pp. 252. Pictorial wrappers. One ofthe ‘Lectures amoureuses de J.-J. Pauvert.’ [Compiler’scollection.]

49

TROPHÉE DES VULVES LEGENDAIRES

93. TROPHÉE DES VULVES LEGENDAIRES, (Le).
Neuf sonnets sur les Héroïnes de Wagner, rêvés au pieddu Vénusberg en août 1891. [Paris] Aux dépens d’ungroupe de bibliophiles parisiens, 1948. 4to. Unpaged,
but pp. [48] inclusive. 18 illustrations [by Hertenberger]. Limited to 300 copies. [Compiler’s collection;
copy no. 1 of the 18 containing an additional suite ofillustrations, and has, not the one original illus. mentioned in the colophon, but two. Pia, 1344,5.]***FIRST EDITION.

50

VÉRITABLES CHANSONS DE BILITIS

94. VÉRITABLES CHANSONS DE BILITIS, (Les). Traduites du grec pour la première fois d’après le manuscritde la Justinienne. [88 in-text illustrations by Lucien
Métivet.] n.p., n.d. [Paris? c. 1930.] 4to. pp. 102. Limited to 350 copies. [Pia, 1382,3.]*** FIRST EDITION.
95. VÉRITABLES CHANSONS DE BILITIS, (Les). Traduites du grec pour la première fois d’après le manuscritde la Justinienne. [Illustrations by Lucien Métivet.] n.p.,
n.d. [Paris: Maurice Duflou, 1937.] 4to. pp. 102. Limited to 300 copies. [British Library :P.C.13.de.4.]
96. [Véritables chansons de Bilitis.] CHANSONS SECRÈTES DE BILITIS (Les), nouvellement traduites
sur le manuscrit de la Justinienne. Suivies de Les Filles
de Loth [et] La Femme à barbe de Guy de Maupassant,L’Etudiant et la Grisette, pièce en un acte de Henri
Monnier. Le Compendium érotique. La Ballade mythologique. 12 illustrations en hors texte et culs-delampe de Jean Jouy. [Paris?] Aux dépens d’un amateur51

et des souscripteurs [1946]. 8vo. pp. 108. Limited to
275 copies. [Pia 212,3.]
97. [Véritables chansons de Bilitis.] DIALOGUES DE
COURTISANES suivi de Manuel de civilité pour lespetites filles. Paris: Eurodif, 1976. 8vo. pp. 187. Part ofthe collection Aphrodite classique. [Compiler’s collection.]
Considerable doubt exists as to the authenticity of the poems in the
Véritables chansons de Bilitis, and it has been suggested that theirreal author may have been Pascal Pia.

Copyright © Patrick J. Kearney 201952