The Pearl : A Journal of Facetiae and Voluptuous Reading

The Pearl was one of the first ‘underground’ magazines of modern times and, though much imitated, has retained a reputation for originality, unrestrained eroticism, and sheer bawdy fun that has little dimmed over the many years since the last of its eighteen volumes appeared. The first issue was published in London in the summer of 1879 and through a highly efficient ‘subterranean’ marketing system it was soon being read and enjoyed by people of all stations. To the modern reader and the sociologist alike, The Pearl shows the Victorians as being vastly different to their public image; indeed, beneath the facade of respectability and sexual repression there obviously existed the strongest urge for sexual experimentation and enjoyment. In the pages which follow, the publishers have selected items from the eighteen volumes which appeared between July 1879 and December 1880, laying particular emphasis on the material which most clearly demonstrates the freedom of the magazine—and its avowed intention of providing enjoyment for the sexually enlightened. Bawdy, provocative, irresistibly entertaining, The Pearl is a vital part of the Victorians’ great literary legacy to today’s more tolerant society. The publishers are pleased to have played a part in restoring it to general availability.