RESTIF de LA BRETONNE: Le Pornographe ou idées d'un honnête- - Lot 151

Lot n° 151
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150 - 200 EUR
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Result : 126EUR
RESTIF de LA BRETONNE: Le Pornographe ou idées d'un honnête- - Lot 151
RESTIF de LA BRETONNE: Le Pornographe ou idées d'un honnête-Homme sur un projet de règlement pour les prostituées...Londres, Nourse, La Haie, Gosse juior, 1770. in-8 modern half-bassane grabitée, ornate smooth spine (pages 3 to 6 missing 2 ff.). Second edition by the same publisher, the original having been published the year before in 1769. It is known that the publisher was in fact Delalain and that the printing took place in Paris, but that the publisher used a false address to thwart censorship.Le pornographe is a manifesto for the regulation of prostitution. The author is the inventor of the neologism that unites two Greek roots and literally means: he who writes about prostitutes. Restif's project to regulate prostitutes was original in that it took a literary form, using letters to Madame des Tianges to detail the situation of prostitutes. The author's main thesis is as follows: Since prostitution appears to be a necessary evil, it should be controlled by the creation of specialized homes, supervised by police and doctors, and administered in such a way as to guarantee an establishment for the children of filles de joie. The most surprising thing for the reader is to realize that the author has created rules for everything: food, linen, hygiene... While Restif's fascination with prostitution is real, it never descends into immorality. On the contrary, the author seems to be seeking a new morality that takes immorality into account. The second part deals with the prostitution situation in several European countries and cities.
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