Index Librorum Prohibitorum [with] Centuria Librorum Absconditorum [with] Catena Librorum Tacendorum .. being notes bio-biblio-icono-graphical and critical, on curious and uncommon books, by Pisanus Fraxi. [ Erotica Bibliography ]

Charles Skilton, London, 1960 reprint of 1877-1885 first edition. Limited edition of 395 sets. 3 vols, cloth, 4to, 246 x 184 mm,. lxxvi, 542, [2] + lx, 593, [2] + lvii, 593, [3] pp, plates. Approximately 1,500 entries. Deakin in Catalogi Librorum Eroticorum, 1964 says of the first edition: " H.S. Ashbee (1834-1900), a wealthy London businessman, amassed over many years an extensive collection of fine erotic books, which he bequeathed to the British Museum. Ashbee's bequest, indeed, forms the nucleus of the private case of that library. His work on erotic literature was prodigious, and his three volumes (which are considerably more than is suggested by their titles) are sui generis: nothing approaching them in quality has ever appeared in English. The set, which is sumptuously produced, contains hundreds of curious items not only with full information regarding pagination, size, the number of copies printed, etc., but also with copious extracts and synopses, which greatly enhance its value. Ashbee's critical notes on erotic literature are always sound, well-informed, and incisive, and it is impossible to speak too highly of his work. The range of material which he includes is very wide (though there are few entries for German and Spanish erotica), with particular emphasis on English books of the Victorian period. Most of these are artistically worthless, as Ashbee makes clear, but a small number of first-rate productions were issued at this time, and he deals with these exhaustively. In short, these three volumes are quite indispensible. Ashbee's work has been reprinted recently (1960) by Charles Skilton in London, in the format of the original and in an edition of 395 sets sold at 25 guineas each. Covers of the Centuria volume a little scuffed and marked, otherwise a Very Good set.