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Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century
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Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York Hardcover - 2009 - 1st Edition

by Donna Dennis


From the publisher

Licentious Gotham, set in the streets, news depots, publishing houses, grand jury chambers, and courtrooms of the nation's great metropolis, delves into the stories of the enterprising men and women who created a thriving transcontinental market for sexually arousing books and pictures. The experiences of "fancy" publishers, "flash" editors, and "racy" novelists, who all managed to pursue their trade in the face of laws criminalizing obscene publications, dramatically convey nineteenth-century America's daring notions of sex, gender, and desire, as well as the frequently counterproductive results of attempts to enforce conventional moral standards.

In nineteenth-century New York, the business of erotic publishing and legal attacks on obscenity developed in tandem, with each activity shaping and even promoting the pursuit of the other. Obscenity prohibitions, rather than curbing salacious publications, inspired innovative new styles of forbidden literature--such as works highlighting expressions of passion and pleasure by middle-class American women. Obscenity prosecutions also spurred purveyors of lewd materials to devise novel schemes to evade local censorship by advertising and distributing their products through the mail. This subterfuge in turn triggered far-reaching transformations in strategies for policing obscenity.

Donna Dennis offers a colorful, groundbreaking account of the birth of an indecent print trade and the origins of obscenity regulation in the United States. By revealing the paradoxes that characterized early efforts to suppress sexual expression in the name of morality, she suggests relevant lessons for our own day.

Details

  • Title Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York
  • Author Donna Dennis
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 408
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Harvard University Press, Cambridge
  • Date 2009-03-01
  • ISBN 9780674032835 / 0674032837
  • Weight 1.3 lbs (0.59 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.1 x 5.7 x 1.4 in (20.57 x 14.48 x 3.56 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
    • Cultural Region: Mid-Atlantic
    • Cultural Region: Northeast U.S.
    • Geographic Orientation: New York
    • Locality: New York, N.Y.
  • Library of Congress subjects Pornography - New York (State) - New York -, Pornography - Law and legislation - New York
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2008036466
  • Dewey Decimal Code 364.174

Media reviews

Citations

  • Choice, 09/01/2009, Page 0
  • Chronicle of Higher Education, 06/26/2009, Page 16
  • New York Times Book Review, 04/12/2009, Page 22
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Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York
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Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York

by Donna Dennis

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Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York
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Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York

by Donna Dennis

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LICENTIOUS GOTHAM Erotic Publishing and its Prosecution in  Nineteenth-Century New York

LICENTIOUS GOTHAM Erotic Publishing and its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York

by Donna Dennis

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Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York
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Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York

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