This article is about the novel. For its screen adaptations and other uses, see Fanny Hill (disambiguation).
18th century erotic novel
Fanny Hill
One of earliest editions, 1749 (MDCCXLIX)
Author
John Cleland
Original title
Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
Country
Great Britain
Language
English
Genre
Erotic novel
Publication date
21 November 1748; February 1749
Media type
Print (hardback and paperback)
OCLC
13050889
Dewey Decimal
823/.6 19
LC Class
PR3348.C65 M45
Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure—popularly known as Fanny Hill—is an erotic novel by the English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,[1][2] it is considered "the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel".[3] It is one of the most prosecuted and banned books in history.[4]
The book exemplifies the use of euphemism. The text has no swearing or explicit scientific terms for body parts, but uses many literary devices to describe genitalia. For example, the vagina is sometimes referred to as "the nethermouth", which is also an example of psychological displacement.
A critical edition by Peter Sabor includes a bibliography and explanatory notes.[5] The collection Launching "Fanny Hill" contains several essays on the historical, social and economic themes underlying the novel.[6]
^Wagner, "Introduction", in Cleland, Fanny Hill, 1985, p. 7.
^Lane, Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age, 2000, p. 11.
^Foxon, Libertine Literature in England, 1660–1745, 1965, p. 45.
^Browne, Ray Broadus; Browne, Pat (2001). The Guide to United States Popular Culture. Popular Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-87972-821-2.
^Oxford World's Classics, 1985.
^Patsy S. Fowler and Alan Jackson, eds. Launching "Fanny Hill": Essays on the Novel and Its Influences. New York: AMS Press, 2003.
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