Marquis de Sade, ed. Iwan Bloch. Justine or the Misfortunes of Virtue. New York: The Risus Press, 1935.
(24.5 x 16.5 cm) pp. 206, [1]. Bound in grey publisher's cloth with silhouette in red. Each chapter begins with a black and white headpeice illustration (some a bit risque). Deckled edges, from having been split by hand. Staining pp. 26,27. Splitting between front fly leaves and between p. 2/3. Covers somewhat discolored with end bands a bit frayed. Overall GOOD condition.
Iwan Bloch (1872-1922), editor of this edition of Justine, was a wild guy. A dermatologist, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and one of the founders of the field of sexology, or the science of sexuality, he also discovered the Marquis de Sade's manuscript of the 120 Days of Sodom, which he published under a psuedonym. Freud accredits Bloch's work for being the foundation for the anthropological study of sexuality.
Each chapter of this edition of Justine, an erotic novel written in part during de Sade's stint in the Bastille, begins with a vignette illustration in decadent, art nouveau, almost Beardsley-esque style. As is the text, some of these illustrations are a little spicy.
Bloch includes a colophon to his Justine, stating that "the editor, an amiable old gentleman devoted to hearlth and home, licing in the bosom of a happy family, highly disapproves of most of the charpters in this novel; and in no way can he identify himself with their words or actions."