Very Rare. OCLC records copies at the BL and University of London (digital only?) only in the UK; Yale (does not appear in the catalogue), Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Michigan State (with a pencil note “Rarissime!”). First published in a single volume in Paris in the same year. After the present edition the novel was not published again until 1882 in Bruxelles. An English translation by Dorothy Albertyn was published by the Odyssey Press in London in 1970.
“Mais que dire d’un ouvrage dont on ne peut citer aucune partie sans outrager la pudeur, ou sans manquer aux convenances sociales et a Phonnetete publique?”
A remarkable and very rare erotic novel by, “the most daring author to write during the early stages of female erotic literature”, which was banned and ordered to be destroyed for its explicit lesbian love story. This second edition is the first to have the second volume which contains the most explicit passage in which Julie succumbs to the amorous advances of her friend Caroline. The title-page contains the following warning: “La mère en défendra la lecture à sa fille.” [The mother will forbid her daughter to read it]
The novel is written as a memoir by Julie who is taught at a young age that above all else she must preserve her virginity as the loss of it would cause great damage to her reputation as a woman. Despite numerous male and female lovers throughout the novel Julie preserves her virginity but also discovers lesbian love through her friend Caroline and the pair form a secret society of lesbians.
“The denouement of the memoir takes the reader up to the time of the writing where Julie has renounced society to live as a recluse. She writes her memoirs to instruct other women about the empowerment she experienced while living her life according to her philosophy. The power she realizes permits her to function within the context of early nineteenth-century male-dominated society without losing her subjectivity and ability to pursue individual pleasures.” (Glessner, p. 139).
It is also at the end of the second volume of the novel that the most explicit erotic scene takes places which would ultimate lead to the book being banned:
“Caroline m’attire doucement sur la couche de roses; elle écarté le voile qui couvre mon sein elle y colle sa bouche, et, après en avoir caressé les deux charmans boutons, elle vient cueillir sur mes lèvres les plus brûlans baisers. Mes bras deviennent bientôt l’objet de ses voluptueuses caresses ; elle les presse, elle les baise avec fureur; ma jambe attire ses regards, et n’excite pas moins de transports. Pressée de jouir de charmes encore plus précieux, sa main indiscrète effleure une cuisse blanche et potelée, qui devient à son tour Pobjet des hommages de la voluptueuse Caroline. Enhardie par ses succès, elle ose pénétrer jusqu’au secret asile des plaisirs. Elle jette sur moi des regards enflammés; le pourpre du désir colore son visage, son sein palpite avec une violence extraordinaire. Elle se couche entierement sur Pottomane, et s’emparant d’une de mes mains, elle la pose sur le foyer de ses désirs.
“Je compris son intention; mais , trop novice dans cet art pour compléter sa jouissance, ma maladresse ne fit que l’exciter, au lieu de la satisfaire. Caroline, hors d’elle-même, m’attire sur elle, sa gorge est sur la mienne, et par un mouvement circulaire semble la caresser. Les jolies fraises qui couronnent son sein, jalouses d’en rencontrer d’aussi belles, cherchent à leur livrer le combat; elles se touchent, elles se pressent; ce léger frottement les durcit et me cause le frémissement le plus voluptueux ! Caroline s’aperçoit de mon trouble et cherche à l’augmenter par les titillations les plus délicieuses. Elle passe une de mes cuisses entre les siennes ; je la sens s’agiter avec plus de violence; sa main officieuse redouble de vivacité, l’éclair du plaisir brille en même temps à nos yeux, et nous perdons, dans l’ivresse qui le suit, jusqu’au souvenir de notre existence.” (p.237-9)
[Caroline gently draws me down onto the bed of roses; she parts the veil covering my breast and presses her lips to it, and, after caressing its two charming buds, she moves to gather the most burning kisses from my lips. My arms soon become the object of her voluptuous caresses; she clasps and kisses them with fervour; my leg catches her eye and stirs no less rapture. Eager to enjoy even more precious charms, her bold hand grazes a white, shapely thigh, which in turn becomes the object of the voluptuous Caroline’s adoration. Emboldened by her success, she dares to venture toward the secret sanctuary of pleasure. She casts burning glances at me; the flush of desire colours her face, and her bosom heaves with extraordinary intensity. She stretches out fully upon the ottoman and, taking hold of one of my hands, places it upon the seat of her desire.
I understood her intent; yet, being too much of a novice in this art to bring her to full gratification, my clumsiness served only to arouse rather than satisfy her. Beside herself, Caroline pulled me onto her; her bosom pressed against mine, caressing it with a circular motion. The lovely peaks crowning her breasts, jealous at encountering others just as beautiful, sought to vie with them; they touched and pressed together—that slight friction hardened them and sent a most voluptuous shiver through me! Caroline sensed my agitation and sought to heighten it with the most delightful caresses. She guided one of my thighs between her own; I felt her movements grow more intense; her eager hand redoubled its vigour; a flash of pleasure lit up our eyes, and in the ensuing ecstasy, we lost all awareness of our very existence.]
Glassner notes of this passage:
““It appears that Julie ou j’ai sauve ma rose was censored and ordered to be destroyed mainly because of the lesbian scenes that occur toward the end…**Representations of same-sex love making were judged to be not simply abnormal, but intolerably obscene in nineteenth-century thought. Thus, the work deserved a much sterner punishment for its more serious literary transgression than the heterosexual erotic representations in Entre chien et hup and Amelie de Saint-Far.”** [two other novels by Choiseul-Meuse which were banned but not ordered to be destroyed].
Surprisingly little has been written about the novels of Félicité de Choiseul-Meuse. Beth A. Glassner suggests in her essay “The Censored Erotic Works of Félicité de Choiseul-Meuse that this is most likely because many of her novels were censored on publication (and Julie ordered to be destroyed) and because they are now so rare institutionally, Glassner notes that, “Aside from citations in anthologies, inquiries regarding Choiseul-Meuse are rare.” (p.131).
Authorship of the novel was once disputed but it is now thought to be by Choiseul-Meuse who wrote around 27 novels between 1797 and 1824. Very little is known about the author but it has been suggested (by Glassner and others) that she was the wife of the Marquis Jean-Baptiste-Armand de Choiseul-Meuse, an army field marshal who also translated Tasso’s Aminta. An unidentified Madame Guyot was once thought to be the author of Choiseul-Meuse’s novels. Antoine Laporte wrote in 1889, when it was still believed that Guyot was the author:
“L’auteur s est piqué de dis puter de cynisme et de licence avec les écrivains qui sont distin gués par ce côté honteux Le fond de son roman assez froidement imaginé est réchauffé par les tableaux les plus obscènes Mais que dire d un ouvrage dont on ne peut citer aucune partie sans outrager la pudeur ou sans manquer aux convenances sociales ou à l honnêteté publique Si un homme l avait écrit on pourrait lui reprocher d avoir trahi par ses écrits les déréglemente des mœurs mais lorsque de tels tableaux ont été écrits par une femme la pitié et le dégoût arrêtent la censure” (Laporte, Histoire littéraire du dix-neuvième siècle (1889) p.266)
[The author sought to vie in cynicism and licentiousness with writers distinguished by such shameful traits. The substance of her novel, rather coldly conceived, is enlivened by the most obscene scenes. Yet what can be said of a work from which no passage can be quoted without offending decency or violating social proprieties and public morality? Had a man written it, he might be reproached for betraying moral depravity through his writing; but when such scenes are penned by a woman, pity and disgust stay the hand of censure.]
Provenance: Bookseller’s note in French on the pastedowns and endleaves but no marks (perhaps unsurprisingly given the content) of any early ownership.
