Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Collection of publisher and bookseller catalogs and prospectuses featuring erotica, most based in New York city
Image not available
- Description
- Collection of mail-order catalogs, subscription requests, prospectuses and catalogs for erotic literature, anthropology, sexology, and history. The majority of publishers represented were located in New York, although the Argus Book Shop had its primary location in Chicago, briefly setting up a shop in Manhattan from 1944 to 1950. Blackfriars Press, Argus Book Shop and the Falstaff Press have the largest representation. Publishers with only two or three items include: American Ethnological Press; Charles Book Haven; Charles L. Bowman & co.; Covici, Friede, Publishers; French Bookman; Horace Liveright, New York; Panurge Press; Private Press Publishers and Library Union Association. Several catalogs are anonymous. The Argus Book Shop was founded by Ben Abramson. The Falstaff Press was incorporated by Benjamin Rebhuhn in 1932. Rebhuhn, his wife and nephew were convicted of Federal obscenity charges in 1939; Abramson somehow managed to maintain a more "legitimate" reputation and avoided much scrutiny by the authorities. The materials presented in these catalogs were designed to appeal to a wide range of tastes and budgets.
