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                                              Catalogs of Publishers Welcome to the world of the adult book. A recent trip to an exhibit of the oldest existant books (Bibles, of course) offered the following observation: upon the very first page of the second-oldest printed book in history was an illustration ... Adam and Eve naked. The monks could have offered us Noah and his Animals, Moses and the Burning Bush, any number of scenes... but clearly it was a no-brainer... Adam and Eve is what the reader wants to see. Curiosity about our bodies has played a crucial part in the advance of every new communications tool -- the book and the printing press, photography and movies, video, the internet, etc., So, again, welcome to the books. Adult Books, Erotica, Smut, Sleaze, Filth! The Dirty Books! Vintage Sleaze constantly updates its archives of popular erotica -- organizing the books by publisher, author, themes, cover models, and graphic artists. The "Early Vintage Sleaze" paperback publishers (from 1940-1969) have their own browsing section below, and the major "Adult Book" publishers (from 1970-1988) each have their own browsing sections as well. Additionally, there exist separate sections for classic and contemporary "Erotica," -- which present a more literary approach to the writing (and marketing) of our sexual explorations. . For those new to the world of popular erotica, just pick browsing section or a catalog and dig in! Be sure to cross-check the "Writers" and "Artists" and "Themes" areas also! |
 
Check this extensive section is for a variety of early sleaze publishers from the 60s, the 50s and even ... some anonymous ones from the under-the-counter pre-history "smoker" days of smut! |
From the small format Corinth softcovers of the 1950s, through the wild 60s graphics of Ember Library and deep into the hard-edge of the Bondage House, Heatherpool Press and PET Books, this is a choice sampling of the works of American Erotica's most ambitious publishing company. |
Evolving from the West Coast nudist and men's magazine world, Brandon House books were erotica with high standards of content and graphic style. Also included here are the Brandon House Library and Essex House series. And check out the American Art catalog page for the later evolution of this fascinating adult publisher. |
American Art was the name adopted by the new owners of the original Brandon production group in the early 1970s. Under this publishing umbrella, dozens of great booklines were produced, Casino, Captive Women Series, Dansk Blue Books, and many others -- reprinting some older books with new cover art and creating hundreds of handsome originals! |
Liverpool Library Press set a high-water mark for stylish production and good writing! In addition to its own spin-off booklines (Rear Window Series, Rampant Action Series, Family Series and others), LLP inspired a seismic spawn of stylistic imitators such as Little Library Press, Bristol Library Press and many, many more. |
Emerging from the legal collapse of the West Coast Greenleaf operation, Surrey House books offered hard eroticism, even though the cover art was rough. Obscure gems that warrant reading! |
PEC or Publishers Export Company books had gorgeous colorful cover art and a pool of imaginative colorful writers to match. The San Diego-based company produced some classic beatnik & hipster sex books, as well as the PEC POMPEII and NARCISSUS lines which catered to harder-edged BDSM themes. |
  The adult paperbacks of the FIRST NITERS, AFTER NOURS, WEE HOURS and UNIQUE booklines marked a turning point in the mass-marketing of rather hard-core sexual interests, such as Sado-masochism, Domination and various Fetishes.The Satellite Book Company expanded its publishing efforts from subscription-oriented mail-order pamphlets to full-scale paperbacks -- elevating the subterranean world of the Fetish authors (and artists like Eric Stanton, Gene Bilbrew, Bill Ward and (later) Bill Alexander) into the mainstream. |
Foremost Publications and Connoisseur Books from the heart of Cleveland, Ohio circulated a number of high-quality booklines showcasing the art of Gene "Eneg" Bilbrew, Elaine Duillo and others. Along with the book lines above, there were also SATAN PRESS, CHEVRON, |
Pendulum Books were initially reprints of classic old-world erotica with straight-forward "text only"covers, however, by the late 60s, they were producing original adult fiction with very nice artwork. In response to Liverpool's success, they launched the copycat line Little Library Press (LLP). |
Star Distributors emerged in the early 70s issuing a variety of booklines, each catering to fans of specific erotic universes and satisfying those unique needs with razor-edge precision. Adventurous full-color cover illustration made these books red-hot. Many of the Star books also appear in the "Themes" pages, ie. WAR HORRORS, SLAVE HORRORS, SATAN PRESS, VIOLENT STORIES and many more. |
Eros-Goldstripe books have a special cache in that they secured the services of two of the most powerful erotic illustrators, Bill Ward and Gene Bilbrew to provide cover art and interior illustrations for many of their series. Check out the Bizarre Books, Command Books, Dr. Guenter Klow Series, Backstairs, Hildegarde Hesse, and others. |
NYC-based, Bee-line was among the pioneering NYC adult publishers of the early 60s, evolving with the changing times as a no-frills adult book publisher -- issuing text-only covers fashioned after the Olympia Press' Travelers Companion Series, and later using tastefully tame photo covers. Still, great writing is to be found throughout the decades-long print-list. |
Stanley Schrag's sleaze house went from Newsstand Library to Playtime Books to some decidely intense adult publications. |
Manchester was the name attributed on the copyright pages on the Chelsea Library Press and Windsor Library Press series. Another British city lending its name to the cause of fine adult reading! Hundreds of handsome originals! |
The House of Lords books set a high-water mark for stylish production and good writing! |
The House of Milan books set a high-water mark for stylish production and good writing in the last days of the adult bookstore book! |
Delightfully quirky freak-fests chock full o' nuts, butts, boobs, cocks, masks and shackles courtesy of Bill Ward and Gene "Eneg" Bilbrew -- whose covers and interior illustrations distinguish these books. . |
Towards the end of the 60s, a crop of anonymous paperbacks began to appear with nudie pix interspersed with the text. Many of these are strange and uncredited publications with the photo sections appearing without rhyme, reason or relation to the text -- oftentimes B&W, sometimes color, sometimes glossy, more often not, sometimes upside-down! Later the digest-sized volumes displayed hard-core action and featured color sections. Here are some early funky editions. |
In a world as shadowy as adult book publishing, there were bound to be plenty of fly-by-night operations, producing books with borrowed texts, stolen cover art, lacking copyright pages, and in some cases authors names! Here is a selection of smaller press and misfit adult books of note. Check in here all the curious lesser known publishers, "one-offs," and odd-ball books that couldn't be included elsewhere. So far, there are catalogs for HUSTLER PAPERBACKS, RAM BOOKS, AQUARIUS 7, and IMPACT LIBRARY. |
  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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