Bookleggers and smuthounds : the trade in erotica, 1920-1940 / Jay A. Gertzman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gertzman, Jay A.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Erotica--United States--History--20th century.

Erotica.

Pornography--United States--History--20th century.

Pornography.

Pornography--Social aspects--United States.

Pornography--Social aspects.

Book industries and trade.

History.

United States.

Book industries and trade--United States--History.

Genre:

History.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Gertzman, Jay A. (autograph) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copies 1 & 2)

Brown, Andreas (inscription) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy 2)

Physical Description:

418 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pa. : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.

Summary:

Between the two world wars, New York was the center of the large and contested erotic literature trade in America. Bookleggers and Smuthounds reveals the subtle, symbiotic relationship between the publishers of erotica and the moralists who attacked them -- and how the existence of both groups depended on the enduring appeal of prurience. By keeping intact the association of sex with obscenity and shameful silence, distributors of erotica simultaneously provided the anti-vice crusaders with a public enemy. Jay Gertzman offers unforgettable portrayals of the "pariah capitalists" who shaped the industry and of the individuals, organizations, and government agencies who sought to control them.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [381]-396) and index.

Local Notes:

Gotham Book Mart Collection copy 1 signed by the author.

Gotham Book Mart Collection copy 2 inscribed by the author to Andreas Brown "with sincerely profound gratitude 5/12/2002".

ISBN:

0812217985

9780812217988

OCLC:

634874967