The Sins of the Cities of the Plain
1881
Anonymous
London: William Lazenby
British
Autobio Fiction
228
Gay Men, Erotica, Sex Workers
In those days men loved a lusty fellow as much as women do now, and the lusty fellow could give as much pleasure to a man as he could to a woman, and be thought none the worse for it.
Summary
subtitled The Recollections of a Mary-Ann, with Short Essays on Sodomy and Tribadism. Written partly from the experience of the author’s work as a Mary-Anne—a cross-dressing sex worker.
More Info
Authorship of the book is contested between at least three figures: the original Jack Saul, James Campbell Reddie (an erotica writer and bibliographer who often contributed to Lazenby), and Simeon Solomon (a Pre-Raphaelite and illustrator of Swineburne's unpublished erotica).
Also see:
The Sins of Jack Saul - The True Story of Dublin Jack and the Cleveland Street Scandal (2016) by Glenn Chandler. Grosvenor House Publishing Limited. (ISBN: 978-1781489918)
"ANONYMOUS and Badboy Books: a 1990s moment in the history of pornography" (2016) by Barry Reay and Nina Attwood
Content & Trigger Warnings
(highlight to reveal)
BEASTIALITY: A cow is milked into a woman (Vol 1, 58-61pp), mentioned (Vol 2, 101p, 1109p)
INCEST: of brother and sister, though consensual (Vol 1, 75-80pp) of brother and two sisters, though consensual (Vol 2, 88-100pp) mentioned, of mother and son (Vol 2, 101p)
PEDOPHILIA and RACISM: 14 and 13 year-olds feature in a sex club, and the younger is Black and described in racist language (Vol 2, 44-49pp), rape of 13yo boy by male caretaker (Vol 2, 76-782pp), mention (Vol 2, p109).
RAPE: of fainted woman by protagonist (Vol 1, 73-75pp), nonconsensual impregnation (Vol 2, 14-20pp), woman humiliated and raped before consenting (Vol 2, 28-32pp), of boy by schoolmates (Vol 2, 64-66pp, 68p), of 13yo boy by male caretaker (Vol 2, 76-782pp).
SEX TRAFFICKING: of soldiers (Vol 1, 86-88pp), of children 13-15yo (Vol 2, 71-72pp, 83p).
SUICIDE MENTION: of very minor character (Vol 2, 71p)
Editions
London: William Lazenby (1881) first edition title page from Project Gutenberg. Privately printed in 250 copies.
Masquerade Books (1992) paperback edition is a rewritten version of the text. Excises or ages-up underage scenes, extends other sex scenes, changes all heterosexual sex into homosexual, and adds more. It expands the book with approximately 30% more text.