Ian Gibson
The English vice: Beating, sex, and shame in Victorian England and after (1978) - Ian Gibson
The English vice: Beating, sex, and shame in Victorian England and after (1978) - Ian Gibson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
There is no such thing as the 'standard work' on corporal punishment in Britain, but this rather strange book perhaps comes nearer to it than any other I have found.
It is not, however, to be recommended for the author's opinions. Ian Gibson was brought up in Quaker schools and clearly does not understand these things. The English Vice is, for him, 'flagellomania'. His tone of voice throughout is one of pained astonishment that the official striking of buttocks could ever have been contemplated. He devotes considerable space to showing that it was already apparent, several hundred years ago, that such a practice had sexual overtones. There is a lot of heavygoing stuff about Meibom (1590-1655) and Rousseau and various other theorists on how beating allegedly causes impotence and turns people into 'flagellomanes'. --Colin Farrell, http://www.corpun.com/books2.htm [Jan 2005]
The Erotomaniac: The Secret Life of Henry Spencer Ashbee (2001) - Ian Gibson
The Erotomaniac: The Secret Life of Henry Spencer Ashbee (2001) - Ian Gibson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The life and times of a Victorian gentleman of irrepressible curiosity-and shockingly repressed desire. Henry Spencer Ashb ee (1884-1900) was a prosperous and respectable Victorian gentleman, a family man who counted among his many friends the celebrated adventurer Sir Ric hard Francis Burton. But he was a gentleman with a secret-one so delicious that he rented a separate apartment to contain it. Within the well-appointed chambers of Gray's Inn, Ashbee concealed an astonishingly vast collection of erotica and pornography, thousands of volumes strong. Ian Gibson, the acclaimed biographer of Lorca and Dal, now turns his attention to the hitherto little-known Ashb ee, a man who happily supported his wife and four children but spent his spare time meticulously cat aloguing such risqutitles as Miss Bellasis Birched for Thieving and The Marchioness's Amorous Pastimes. And with exclusive access to Ashbee's diaries and his family's archives, Gibson has uncovered evidence that Ashbee may himself have been the author of the notorious My Secret Life-the "true" autobiography of an unnamed Victorian gentleman and his sexual adventures. With his celebrated touch for evoking both his subject and his subject's era, Gibson has created a telling and provocative portrait of a fascinating character and the no less intriguing age that made him possible. --Synopsis via Amazon.com
About the Author
Ian Gibson lives in a village near Granada, Spain. His Federico García Lorca: A Life won numerous awards and was named a best book of the year by the New York Times and the Boston Globe.
The life and times of a Victorian gentleman of irrepressible curiosity-and shockingly repressed desire.
Henry Spencer Ashbee (1834-1900) was a prosperous and respectable Victorian gentleman, a family man who counted among his many friends the celebrated adventurer Sir Richard Francis Burton. But he was a gentleman with a secret-one so delicious that he rented a separate apartment to contain it. Within the well-appointed chambers of Gray's Inn, Ashbee concealed an astonishingly vast collection of erotica and pornography, thousands of volumes strong. --Book Description via Amazon.com
Ian Gibson, the acclaimed biographer of Lorca and Dalí, now turns his attention to the hitherto little-known Ashbee, a man who happily supported his wife and four children but spent his spare time meticulously cataloguing such risqué titles as Miss Bellasis Birched for Thieving and The Marchioness's Amorous Pastimes. And with exclusive access to Ashbee's diaries and his family's archives, Gibson has uncovered evidence that Ashbee may himself have been the author of the notorious My Secret Life-the "true" autobiography of an unnamed Victorian gentleman and his sexual adventures. With his celebrated touch for evoking both his subject and his subject's era, Gibson has created a telling and provocative portrait of a fascinating character and the no less intriguing age that made him possible
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