When Flesh Becomes Word collects nine different examples of British libertine literature that appeared before 1750. Three of these--The School of Venus (1680), Venus in the Cloister (1725), and A Dialogue Between a Married Lady and a Maid (1740)--are famous "whore dialogues," dramatic conversations between an older,experienced woman and a younger, inexperienced maid. Previously unavailable in an affordable edition these dialogues combine sex education, medical folklore, and erotic literature in a decidedly proto-pornographic form. This edition presents other important examples of libertine literature, including bawdy poetry, a salacious medical treatise, an irreverent travelogue, and a criminal biography. The combination of both popular and influential texts presented in this edition provides an accessible introduction to the variety of material available to eighteenth-century readers before the publication of John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure in 1749.

About the Author
Bradford K. Mudge is Professor of English at the University of Colorado and the author of The Whore's Story: Women, Pornography, and the British Novel, 1684-1830.

Reviews
A fascinating collection of material. These texts of sexual experience are potent means both of subverting and bolstering social and literay norms * TLS *



Book Information
ISBN 9780195161885
Author Bradford K. Mudge
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 522g
Dimensions(mm) 152mm * 234mm * 33mm