ABSTRACT
During th e perio d 1887-1894 , afte r th e collaps e o f th e Cameron/Lazenb y empire i n Novembe r 1886 , th e centr e o f Englis h pornographi c productio n shifted from Britain for the first time . It s new centre was Holland (Amsterdam in particular , but als o Rotterdam) where , becaus e of the liberality granted t o publishers durin g thes e years , man y o f th e Belgia n bookseller/publisher s specializing in erotica, as well as printers (some of these latter from Germany), had moved thei r businesses. Lemmonyer (Vol . I, 1894 , pp.755-6) tells the story in hi s entry o n th e Cousines de la Colonelle. Speaking of the numerou s piracies which began appearing out o f Amsterdam c.1886, he writes:
. . . w e mus t reall y sa y somethin g a t thi s poin t abou t th e cosmopolita n ban d o f gentlemen an d 'bruxellois ' booksellers wh o move d t o Amsterda m som e five or six years ago [i.e. c. 1887-88], and improvised themselve s int o pornographic publishers, thanks t o th e freedo m the n enjoye d ther e b y printers . A t firs t the y reprinte d (o r pirated) th e 'classic s o f the brothel' , accordin g t o M . Gay' s memorabl e phras e . . . and relyin g on th e man y 'risques ' o r 'galantes ' French newspapers , the y achieve d a widespread £ permanen t advertising publicity, with whic h to entice and dupe a vast new clientle . There i s no doub t tha t they wer e ver y far-sighte d commercially ; they sold a grea t man y books , earne d a grea t amoun t o f money , and , consequently, published a great man y books . . . W e mus t humbl y admit tha t our bibliographical information o n thes e Amsterda m publication s wil l certainl y b e incomplet e & lacking. Th e catalogue s whic h w e hav e bee n abl e t o procur e ar e a s unhelpfu l a s possible: n o dates , n o formats , truncated names, and, above all, new title s given t o old texts, withou t any mention of the fact. Durin g this period they reprinted, pirated or translate d a vas t numbe r o f Englis h works , shamelessl y chargin g 1 , 2 an d 3 pounds sterlin g for books no t wort h 5 sous, givin g imaginary titles to old and new works. W e have not been able to disentangle all these fraudulent editions , lacking the time necessar y t o researc h them , bu t w e shal l certainl y turn ou r attentio n t o the m again on e day.
