''Lady Bumtickler's Revels'' is a

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

book written as a spoof

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

for a comic opera on the theme of

flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

. It was written and published by

John Camden Hotten John Camden Hotten (12 September 1832, Clerkenwell – 14 June 1873, Hampstead) was an English bibliophile and publisher. He is best known for his clandestine publishing of numerous erotic and pornographic titles. Life Hotten was born John Wi ...

in 1872 in his series ''

The Library Illustrative of Social Progress ''The Library Illustrative of Social Progress'' was a series of pornographic books published by John Camden Hotten around 1872 (falsely dated 1777). They were mainly reprints of eighteenth-century pornographic works on flagellation. Hotten claimed ...

''. It purports to have been "performed at Lady Bumtickler’s private theatre in Birch Grove, with unbounded applause". The characters, Master Lovebirch and Lady Belinda Flaybum, praise the delights of

masochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

, for example: "the male sex may taste something exquisitely sweet in a whipping from the hands of a woman".

References

External links

Full text of ''Lady Bumtickler's Revels''
on

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

1872 books British pornography {{sex-book-stub