The New Epicurean
Encyclopedia
The New Epicurean: The Delights of Sex, Facetiously and Philosophically Considered, in Graphic Letters Addressed to Young Ladies of Quality is a Victorian erotic novel published by William Dugdale
in 1865 and attributed to Edward Sellon
. The novel is falsely dated "1740", and is written as an eighteenth-century pastiche, composed of a series of letters addressed to various young ladies.
The story concerns an English gentleman, named Sir Charles, and his wife Lady Celia, who procure young girls to their suburban villa, in order to indulge in sex with them. The house is luxuriously furnished and is situated in extensive grounds with an inner secret garden surrounded by high walls to prevent onlookers observing what takes place there.
The Victorian pornographic bibliographer Henry Spencer Ashbee
comments that: "The scenes depicted, many of which are doubtless from the author's own experience, and may be to a certain extent autobiographical, are remarkable for an ultra-lasciviousness, and a cynicism worthy of the Marquis de Sade
".
William Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.-Life:...
in 1865 and attributed to Edward Sellon
Edward Sellon
Edward Sellon was an English writer, translator and illustrator of erotic literature.-Family:Edward Sellon was born 6 Jan 1818 in Brighton, England , the only child of Edward Sellon and Laura Willats .Edward, Sr...
. The novel is falsely dated "1740", and is written as an eighteenth-century pastiche, composed of a series of letters addressed to various young ladies.
The story concerns an English gentleman, named Sir Charles, and his wife Lady Celia, who procure young girls to their suburban villa, in order to indulge in sex with them. The house is luxuriously furnished and is situated in extensive grounds with an inner secret garden surrounded by high walls to prevent onlookers observing what takes place there.
The Victorian pornographic bibliographer Henry Spencer Ashbee
Henry Spencer Ashbee
Henry Spencer Ashbee was a book collector, writer, and bibliographer, notorious for his massive, clandestine three volume bibliography of erotic literature written under the pseudonym of Pisanus Fraxi.-Life:...
comments that: "The scenes depicted, many of which are doubtless from the author's own experience, and may be to a certain extent autobiographical, are remarkable for an ultra-lasciviousness, and a cynicism worthy of the Marquis de Sade
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
".
Further reading
- The New Epicurean & The Adventures of a School Boy: two tales from the Victorian underground - Published in 1969 by Grove Press, New York
- The New Epicurean & The Yellow Room: two Victorian masterpieces in one volume - Published in 1995 by Wordsworth Editions, Ware, England ISBN 1 85326 605 1