How many nations have an “official” hoard of porn and erotica? Well, at least one does, and France’s 350-volume collection of naughty books and print will go on public view for the first time this week.
The collection was gathered over the last 170 years by the Bibliothque Nationale and previously had been stored in a section of the library called L'Enfer or, “Hell.” (Because that’s where all naughty books go?) The section is said to house the largest and richest collections of erotica and pornographic material in the world. It is, according to the Belfast Telegraph, “a quietly and intelligently displayed but garish cornucopia of sadism, masochism, bestialism, scatology, bums, tits and staring genitalia.” Good times.
“Twenty years ago, such an exhibition would have been unthinkable, certainly one sponsored by a state body such as the Bibliothque Nationale,” said one of the two curators of the national library, Marie-Franoise Quignard. “The contents of L'Enfer have been the subject of myth and fantasy for years. People—journalists for instance—were always pestering us to let them have a look. Attitudes to sexuality and eroticism have changed today. There is a great interest in the connections between literature, art and pornography. The library decided that an exhibition would be acceptable and commercially successful.”
No kidding; we’re already scrambling for our ticket.
The collection was gathered over the last 170 years by the Bibliothque Nationale and previously had been stored in a section of the library called L'Enfer or, “Hell.” (Because that’s where all naughty books go?) The section is said to house the largest and richest collections of erotica and pornographic material in the world. It is, according to the Belfast Telegraph, “a quietly and intelligently displayed but garish cornucopia of sadism, masochism, bestialism, scatology, bums, tits and staring genitalia.” Good times.
“Twenty years ago, such an exhibition would have been unthinkable, certainly one sponsored by a state body such as the Bibliothque Nationale,” said one of the two curators of the national library, Marie-Franoise Quignard. “The contents of L'Enfer have been the subject of myth and fantasy for years. People—journalists for instance—were always pestering us to let them have a look. Attitudes to sexuality and eroticism have changed today. There is a great interest in the connections between literature, art and pornography. The library decided that an exhibition would be acceptable and commercially successful.”
No kidding; we’re already scrambling for our ticket.