Other Fiction Cleland, John: Fanny Hill. IMP. v1, 18 Oct 2007.

[Patricia]

John Cleland, ‘Fanny Hill or The Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure’.
(c 1749)

An erotic novel of the 18th century; - arguably the first modern erotic novel. It is both graphic and very flowery. (Also the heroine’s name developed a secondary meaning.)
It was banned in the UK until 1963, and in the US till 1966. I transcribed it because I disapprove of censorship.

I have added a ToC and a picture.

From Wikipedia:
The novel was published in two instalments, in November of 1748 and February of 1749. Initially, there was no governmental reaction to the novel, and it was only in November 1749, a year after the first installment was published, that Cleland and his publisher were arrested and charged with "corrupting the King's subjects." In court, Cleland renounced the novel and it was officially withdrawn. However, as the book became popular, pirate editions appeared. In particular, an episode was interpolated into the book depicting homosexuality between men, which Fanny observes through a chink in the wall. Cleland published an expurgated version of the book in March 1750, but was nevertheless prosecuted for that, too, although the charges were subsequently dropped. Some historians, such as J. H. Plumb, have hypothesised that the prosecution was actually caused by the pirate edition containing the "sodomy" scene.
In the 19th century, copies of the book were sold "underground," and the book eventually made its way to the United States where, in 1821, it was banned for obscenity.
In 1963, G. B. Putnam published the book under the title John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure which also was immediately banned for obscenity. The publisher challenged the ban in court.
In a landmark decision in 1966, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Memoirs v. Massachusetts that the banned novel did not meet the Roth standard for obscenity.”

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