"Go and enjoy yourself!": Sex tourism in Paris

Vient de paraitre. Le guide secret pour étrangers et viveurs. Secret Directory for foreigner Bachelors in Paris. Zum amusieren der Jungersellern[!]. Casas nocturnas.

(Colophon: Paris, Éditions Lagache, [early 20th century?]).

14 x 10 cm. 3-31, [1] pp. Stapled illustrated self-wrappers, without title-page, presumably as issued (counting the front wrapper as pages 1-2). Very well-preserved.

An apparently unrecorded edition of a guide for sex tourism in Paris; in French with English and German translations (despite the text on the wrapper, it doesn’t include Spanish). The quality of the translations is reminiscent of early 2010s Google Translate (or worse: the word “Junggeselle” is misspelt “Jungersellern” on the wrapper), but they no doubt served their purpose.

For those seeking sexual pleasures in Paris, Montmartre was apparently the best place to look: "Why? The answer is simple. One only needs to look at the army of girls trying to fascinate men of all conditions for a good time together. It is almost impossible to pass by and resist, and why should you resist? Go and enjoy yourself!"

The text mentions cabaret Bruant, "fondé en 1895", indicating that it must have been published in or after that year. The guide includes a publisher’s catalogue listing several other "ouvrages amusants", including a potentially useful work devoted to "Les 32 vraies positions" and, surprisingly, the present guide. The last page features an (imagined?) ex-libris of Alfred de Musset, showing two lesbian couples embracing and kissing.

Sex tourism boomed in Paris in the second half of the 19th century, prompting the publication of many guides to aid tourists. The present guide exists in several editions, all of which are extremely rare.

Cf. Journal général de l'imprimerie et de la librairie (1897), p. 1280 (other ed.); Gonzalez, When Paris was the Whorehouse of Europe.