The history of American erotica: the Falstaff and Panurge presses
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The history of American erotica: the Falstaff and Panurge presses.
In the history of American erotica there are two private press publishers of curiosa, Falstaff Press[1] and Panurge Press. Both are well-documented in Bookleggers and Smuthounds, both were at the height of their activity in the 1930s.
Interestingly, both of the presses' names are derived from male fictional characters, in the case of Falstaff described as "fat, vainglorious, cowardly, jolly knight" and in the case of Panurge as "an exceedingly crafty knave, a libertine, and a coward."
Both cowards, both anti-heros. Falstaff as much as Panurge, very much in tune with American modernist literature.
Today, following my binge of French erotica, I've been busy researching the "also avaible from this publisher" page from The Erotic History of France[2] by by Henry L. Marchand.
Other publications of Panurge (Panurge is one of the principal characters in the Pantagruel (especially the third and fourth books) of Rabelais, an exceedingly crafty knave, a libertine, and a coward) include The Sotadic Zone by Sir Richard Burton, here with an illustration courtesy of vintagesleaze.com[3].
