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                     American Art Enterprises Publisher's Consultants American Art Enterprises was the parent company behind all of Milton Luro's many and varied publications. Beginning with his earliest nudist magazines in the late 1950s, he credited all his publishing endeavours with the lofty name "American Art." After success with nudist and later men's magazines, Luros turned to book publishing, and his racy paperback original fictions were issued under the name Brandon House ( followed soon after by a mostly non-fiction line named Barclay House). These hundreds of volumes published between 1964 and 1973, would later become the source of thousands of other book publications as the decades turned. American Art and Publishers Consultants became the copyright holder/names behind the subsequent publishing endeavours -- for in the mid-70s, Luros began selling off his adult industry interests to porn-world heavies like These dozens and dozens of new booklines and series often borrowed the vibes of various successful other book lines from other adult publishing entities. Most often imitated was Liverpool Library with its simple cover design which suggested a degree of playful innocence by virtue of its clean line-drawings -- and whose copyright page bore a Scandenavian address (furthering an image of a forward-thinking healthy society in which sex is not only accepted, but celebrated for its life-affirming natural power). Also imitated were some Greenleaf lines and some Star Distributor lines -- including ones devoted exclusively to the niche, taboo-fantasy realms of sexual violence, bestiality and incest. American Art published well into the late 1980s, which stands as the very end of the adult book publishing era. By then, the Brandon House book empire that began in the early 60s had succumbed to more lucrative and higher-price-point items (such as adult video) in the battle over shelf space in the last of the adult book stores -- stores which sadly would no longer carry adult books at all. See below for a selection of the American Art/Publisher's Consultants adult booklines and click further to see the books themselves. Be sure to cross-check the "Writers" and "Artists" and "Themes" areas also! |
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Dansk Blue Books began appearing in the months after Liverpool Library Press was setting the new standard for adult fiction. Sharing the Scandenavian vibe of the LLP books, Dansk Blue Books also featured cover illustrations in the LLP style with the innovation being that the covers were full color as opposed to simpler, more spare line drawings. As with the rest of the American Art output, there will be a mix of new texts and older re-printed Brandon and Barclay books. Some familiar names will appear here, such a s Richard E. Geis, and others. |
Following on the heels of Dansk, came the Brighton series, borrowing a British port city for the name of the bookline in an attempt to associate itself with Liverpool Library Press,. |
Another British port city lends its name to the porn book cause. |
As in the White Cliffs of Dover, another British port city gets its own book line -- perhaps spreading the vibe from Liverpool down by associaition. |
Valley Circle published some of American Art's most deviant titles, though many were well-written works by the erotician William Henry. |
Illicit Library took upon itself the task of providing some of the more taboo subject matter issued by American Art/Publishers Consultants |
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Though it seems a bit more of a stretch than the others, Lancashire and Lancaster are similar sounding names -- and nearly complete the American Art bookline homage to Liverpool Library. Lancaster Press books were distinguished by the fact that the great Bill Ward offered his services as a cover artist for some very memorable books. |
Not to be confused with Illicit Library (shown above), Illicit Lust Library was a seperate publishing effort by American Art/Publishers Consultants reprinting subject matter even more taboo than its predecessor. |
A series of French erotic novels. |
The Sex Brutality Series began in 1976 -- an offshoot of the STAG and Prison Camp Book series. |
  The adult paperbacks of the CWS or Captive Women Series bookline marked a turning point in the mass-marketing of rather more hard-core sexual interests, such as Sado-masochism, Domination and various Fetishes.The CWS series isolated a specific sexual power fetish scenario, expanded it to th elimit of its exploration and therein brought it into the adult mainstream. Look for FPS books to follow in its wake. |
FPS or the Female Prisoner Series bookline covered much the same ground as CWS with some updating variations on the theme of ... women being imprisoned for sexual pleasure. |
Casino Books were originally graced with striking re-issues of the Fred Fixler cover paintings that graced the early Brandon House books of the mid-60s. Later photographs took over from cover paintings. Some very interesting writing appears within the pages of the Casino books. |
Monterey Library Press featured striking illustrations including a couple gems from Bill Ward as well as striking writing -- both original and re-prints. Their signature lime-green covers were always a beacon of quality sleaze. |
Jaded Journals began with a flirtation with primarily Asian sexuality, but some expnded its appetite to take on all comers!. |
STAG Books featured striking illustrations and similarly striking writing. Later, they too would take to using photo illustrations on the covers -- the imagery often emanating from the magazine publications of American Art's Parliament News. |
Blue Demin Books appeared not long after the popularity surge of Greenleaf's Patch Pokets series and borrowed some of that bookline's demin-stitching motif for their logo. The bookline focused primarily on tales infused with teenage sexuality. |
Slave Academy Books featured striking cover illustrations by Bill Ward and Gene "Eneg" Bilbrew. |
Raunchy Readers appeared in 1980 -- and featured some interesting cover art and text re-prints. |
Another bookline to avail itself of the talents of Brandon House's archived earlier Fred Fixler artwork. This fairly short list of titles reprinted contemporary French erotica. |
This late-comer to the American Art / Publisher's Consultants library, XXE featured the glossy porn shots of its Parliament News magazines -- one of which features a rare glimpse of Tracy Lords. |
A tiny run bookline which graced us with the presence of Michelle Angelo on many covers! Reprints of previous Brandon and Barclay House titles. |
A Valley Circle editorial bookline devoted to stories of African-American Action! |
Another late-coming bookline, Y & W short for Young & Willing, devoted itself to stories of youthful sexuality. |
Animal Library books self-describe their mission -- to offer an outlet for printed tales of taboo sexplorations between man and beast. Also, check in here for Doggie Digests |
FAR books was one of a small group of booklines to offer readers stories of incest in its many variations. |
FMA belongs to the above-mentioned groups of American Art booklines devoted to family affairs. |
IHB or INCEST HOUSE BOOKS was yet another bookline specifically geared to fans of family sex fantasy.. |
A nice collection of original writing and some re-issues. Nice covers too. |
Explicit Library was bookline focused on harder edged erotica. Some nice Bill Ward covers too! |
A nice collection of original writing and many Surrey House re-issues. |
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  Emerging with the collapse of censorship and legal loopholes due to untraceable and overseas copyrights, numerous publishers made hay while they could by importing (and sometime stealing) manuscripts from other pornographers who were legally hamstrung to act on infringement claims. With these prevailing conditions, the 60s saw a spring of classic erotica flow forth in cheap and inocuous paperback editions -- Continental Classics, Classic Editions, and a slew of minor minimalist productions ... evocative of the original Obelisk Press, Olympia Press, and other verbotten European porn presses. |
 For those readers who did need wish to shop at adult book stores, a handful of publishers began producing "erotica" with upscale glossy photo covers from writers of perhaps more restraint and certainly more literary veneer. Pandora, Pinnacle, Blue Moon, Masquerade and others are all collected here. |
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I'll send you a quote if I have the item in stock. |
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