The Male Figure (11 vintage adult digest magazines)

Bruce of Los Angeles, 1950s. Very Good Plus. First Editions/printings, 1950s, stapled softcover 12mo, varying cover prices, about 48pp ea, b/w throughout, color wrappers. Vintage adult digest magazines featuring themale figure in glistening, rippling form, costumed, seminude, professionally posed, and Black models present. Published and photographed by Bruce Bellas, the physique magazine broke through as the first openly erotic magazine aimed at advancing the American gay male, beginning as "study" periodicals, and in the case of Physique Pictorial, ending in softcore pornography, with cut-and-paste advertisements, images, and body measurements. We presume that many of Bruce's models, like Bob Mizer's, were former service men, bikers, bodybuilders, some costumes highlight these themes, and Bruce's layouts have the stage-play aesthetic. Less chaotic in design than Physique Pictorial, and color wraps! Hundreds of similar digest magazines were produced by pop-up operations in the 1950s, around New York, Chicago and California. Prior digest examples used airbrush ("retouched") techniques rolled over from nudist magazines, much of the posing naturally obscuring otherwise censored areas. Very Good Plus overall, light rubbing, toning, foxing, a few scuffs, stains, tears. For mature, consenting audiences.Vol. 2, 1956.Vol. 3, Winter 1956.Vol. 6, Fall 1957. Vol. 7, Winter 1957.Vol. 10, 1957.Vol. 8, Spring 1958.Vol. 13, 1959.Vol. 16, 1959, Mardi Gras special.Vol. 18, 1960, Mel Waskey "Mr. Maryland, 1960."Vol. 33, 1965, color pages. Vol. 35, 1966, color pages, slightly taller than earlier issues.