Introduction and description courtesy of Patrick Kearney, The Paris Olympia Press, Liverpool University Press 2007, P.89 . Index numbers [ Example 4.1.1, are description locators within the bibliography].
Listing here are 6 of the 10 titles which is in itself a very rare occurrence. Images are of the actual books which are duplicate copies from my personal collection, as always they are available to trade against my wants, or failing that other rare items of erotica that might enhance my listings and offer me more of a target audience to find the Olympia Press titles I still need.
Like Collection Merlin, The Atlantic Library was a short series (comprising ten titles), all published in 1954, all sporting a design that prefigured the soon-to-be-launched Traveller’s Companion Series, but in orange.
The first and third books were English translations of works by Rene Roques: Interdit aux Juene Filles (Forbidden to Young Girls), translated by Peter Leroy as Three Passionate Lovers; and et Treize Fois Impure (…and Thirteen Times Impure), translated by James O’Leary as Ladies at Night, the first two novels in Roques Interdit aux Juene Filles collection. The first title was already a bestseller by the time Girodias published the English translation, having sold over 50,000 copies in various French editions. In 1955, et Treize Fois Impure was banned under the 1949 Law concerning the sale of books to minors, but, oddly enough, the English translation published by Girodias was not.
The connection with Roques did not end there, for it appears Girodias also distributed the French editions of the first three titles in the Interdit aux Jeune Filles collection, the two above and also No. 3, Viol (Rape), evidence for which is found in the Olympia Press Teaser Paris Exotique (3.2), in which an extract from et Treize Fois Impure (Passion de la Nuit) can also be found.
The second book in the series, Helen and Desire, was the first Olympia Press title written by Alexander Trocchi of Merlin fame (writing under one of his many pseudonyms, Frances Lengel). He would write four of the ten Atlantic titles (including No. 10, My Life & Loves, Volume Five, supposedly the fifth book in Frank Harris’s outlandish autobiography). Young Adam, No. 6, would eventually be made into a movie (2003). In total, Trocchi would write seven Olympia Press titles and translate one (The Debauched Hospodar, 1.6).
Five of the Atlantic titles also appear under the Traveller’s Companion Series: Helen and Desire, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (as Memoirs of Fanny Hill), An Adults Story, The Watcher and the Watched, and My Life and Loves. Lust appears under the Ophelia imprint.
Atlantic Library titles are rare, several quite so.
4.1.1 THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS René Roques, 1954
RENÉ ROQUES | THREE | PASSIONATE | LOVERS | A novel translated | from the French | by Peter Leroy | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris-6e Collation: 192 pp. [1]-128. 18.0 x 11.4 cm, all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1-4] blank. p. [5] THREE | PASSIONATE |LOVERS. p. [6] THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | LATEST VOLUMES | THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS by René Roques | LADIES AT NIGHT … by René Roques | LUST … by Count Palmiro Vicarion | HELEN AND DESIRE … by Frances Lengel | See excerpts at the end | of the present volume. | Catalogues will be supplied free on request. | Apply to: The Olympia Press, 13 rue Jacob, | Paris 6, France. | [rule] |All rights reserved in all countries by René Roques | and The Olympia Press. p. [7] title, as above, reverse blank. pp. 9-166, text of Three Passionate Lovers. pp. 167-171, extract from Lust by Count Palmiro Vicarion [Christopher Logue]. pp. 172-177, extract from Helen and Desire by Frances Lengel [Alexander Trocchi]. pp. 178-188, extract from Women at Night by René Roques. p. [189] PRINTED JANUARY 1954 | BY IMPRIMERIE RICHARD, PARIS | Printed in France | [rule] | Dépôt légal 1er trimestre 1954. [rule]. pp. [190-192], blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front-cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] RENÉ ROQUES | THREE | PASSIONATE | LOVERS | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white down spine, and all within a black panel:] THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS | [in white across bottom of spine:] 1. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A. | PRINTED IN FRANCE. Notes: Three Passionate Lovers is a translation of Interdit aux Jeunes Fille (Paris: La Clé d’Or , 1951). A reprint published, apparently, by the author (Paris: R.R., 1953) was distributed by The Olympia Press.
[One copy Very Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.4.1 LUST Count Palmiro Vicarion, [Christopher Logue], 1954
COUNT PALMIRO VICARION | LUST | THE ATLANTIC LIBARY [sic] | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris Collation: 224 pp. [1]-148. 17.8 x 11.4 cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] LUST. p. [4] A LIST OF TITLES | ALREADY PUBLISHED IN | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | HELEN AND DESIRE … by Frances Lengel | LUST … by Count Palmiro Vicarion | THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS, by René Roques | LADIES AT NIGHT … by René Roques | Complete catalogue supplied on request. | [rule] | All rights reserved in all countries. | Copyright by The Olympia Press, 1954. p. [5] title, as above, reverse blank. pp. 7-218, text. p. [219-220] blank. p. [221] PRINTED FEBRUARY 1954 | BY IMPRIMERIE RICHARD | PARIS | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 1er trimestre 1954. | [rule]. pp. [222-224] blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front-cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] COUNT | PALMIRO VICARION | LUST | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white down spine, and all within a black panel:] LUST | [in white across bottom of spine:] 4. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A | PRINTED IN FRANCE.Notes: Concerning this novel, and in reply to a question about its reprinting under the Ophelia Press imprint, Mr. Logue wrote to the present writer in 1975: All I know about Lust is; 1) I wrote it; 2) I was paid for it but once; 3) M. G. [Maurice Girodias] did not tell me of his reprints.
[One copy Very Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.5.1 MEMOIRS OF A WOMAN OF PLEASURE John Cleland, 1954
JOHN CLELAND | MEMOIRS | OF A WOMAN | OF PLEASURE | [small device of leaves] | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris Collation: 256 pp. [1]-168. 17.8 x 11.3cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] MEMOIRS | OF A WOMAN OF PLEASURE‘. p. [4] The texte [sic] of this unabridged | version of the authentic | MEMOIRS OF FANNY HILL | is based on the original | edition published by | G. Fenton, London 1749 | under the present title: |Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasureŗ. p. [5] title, as above, reverse blank. pp. 7-248, text. pp. [249-250] blank. p. [251] THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | LATEST VOLUMES | 1. THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS. by René Roques | 2. HELEN AND DESIRE … by Frances Lengel | 3. LADIES AT NIGHT … by René Roques | 4. LUST … by Count Palmiro Vicarion | 5. MEMOIRS OF A WOMAN | OF PLEASURE … by John Cleland | 6. YOUNG ADAM … by Frances Lengel | Complete catalogues will be supplied | free on request. Apply to: | The Olympia Press | 13 rue Jacob, Paris, France. p. [252] blank. p. [253] PRINTED | APRIL 1954 BY | IMPRIMERIE MAZARINE | PARIS | Printed in France | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 2e trimestre 1954, pp. [254-256] blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front-cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] JOHN CLELAND |MEMOIRS | OF A WOMAN | OF PLEASURE | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY‘. Spine: [lettered in white up spine, and all within a black panel:] MEMOIRS OF A WOMAN OF PLEASURE | [in white across bottom of spine:] 5. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A | PRINTED IN FRANCE. Notes: (1) Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure is one of the most enduring erotic novels in any language, and has probably been in print constantly since it was first published at London in two volumes, the first in 1748 and the second early in the following year. Many editions have omitted an episode in the novel involving a graphically described homosexual encounter that is witnessed by the leading character whilst resting at an inn near Hampton Court. This present edition is one of the few that include this incident. (2) Mr. Jan Moret reports an altered state of this printing that has a blue sticker on the back wrapper indicating a price increase to Francs 1.200.
[One copy Very Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.8.1 AN ADULT’S STORY Robert Desmond [Robert Desmond Thompson], 1954
ROBERT DESMOND | AN ADULT’S | STORY | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris Collation: 208 pp. [1]-616, 78. 17.8 x 11.2 cm, all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper.Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] AN ADULT’S STORY, reverse blank. p. [5] title, as above. pp. [6,7] catalogue, with descriptive blurbs, of all ten titles in the Atlantic Library series. At the foot of p. [7] is: Printed in France | [rule] |Copyright 1954 by The Olympia Press. p. [8] blank. pp. 9-206, text. p. [207] Printed in France | [rule] | Printed by Imprimerie Richard, Paris, April 1954 | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 2e trimestre 1954. pp. [208], blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front-cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] ROBERT DESMOND | AN | ADULT’S | STORY | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white up spine, and all within a black panel:] AN ADULT‘S STORY | [in white across bottom of spine:] 8. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A. Notes: Robert Desmond was an English national working in a bank in Rotterdam, Holland. In 1996 he was living in Hackney, East London. Mr. James Armstrong researched and identified the author.
[One copy Very Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.9.1 THE WATCHER AND THE WATCHED Thomas Peachum [Philip Oxman], 1954
THOMAS PEACHUM | THE WATCHER | AND | THE WATCHED | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by |THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris, France Collation: 288 pp. [1]-916. 17.8 x 11.4 cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper. Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] title, as above. p. [4] THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | 1. THREE PASSIONATE LOVERS by René Roques | 2. HELEN AND DESIRE By Frances Lengel | 3. LADIES AT NIGHT by René Roques | 4. LUST by Count Palmiro Vicarion | 5. MEMOIRS OF FANNY HILL by John Cleland | 6. YOUNG ADAM by Frances Lengel | 7. THE CARNAL DAYS OF HELEN SEFERIS | by Frances Lengel | 8. AN ADULT’S STORY by Robert Desmond | 9. THE WATCHER AND THE WATCHED | by Thomas Peachum | 10. MY LIFE AND LOVES (5th vol.) by Frank Harris | A complete up-to-date catalogue will be | sent on request. | Printed in France | [rule] | All rights reserved by The Olympia Press, Paris. pp. 5-286, text. p. [287] PRINTED JUNE 1954 | BY | IMPRIMERIE RICHARD, |PARIS | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 2 e trimestre 1954. | [rule]. p. [208] blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] THOMAS PEACHUM | THE | WATCHER | AND THE | WATCHED | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white up spine, and all within a black panel:] THE WATCHER & THE WATCHED | [in white across bottom of spine:] 9ř. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A. | PRINTED IN FRANCE. Notes: Published under the author’s true name by Sphere Books at London in 1970.
[Two copies one Very Good, one Good, detailed description and extra images on request]
4.10.1 MY LIFE AND LOVES VOL. 5 Frank Harris [Alexander Trocchi], 1954
FRANK HARRIS | MY LIFE | AND LOVES | FIFTH VOLUME | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY | published by | THE OLYMPIA PRESS | 13, rue Jacob, Paris Collation: 192 pp. [1]-616. 17.6 x 11.4 cm., all edges trimmed. Printed on white wove paper.Contents: pp. [1,2] blank. p. [3] MY LIFE | AND LOVES, reverse blank. p. [5] title, as above. p. [6] PRINTED IN FRANCE | [rule] | Copyright by The Olympia Press, Paris. pp. 7-186, text. pp. [187,8] catalogue, with descriptive blurbs, of all ten titles in the Atlantic Library series. p. [189] PRINTED JUNE 1954 | BY | IMPRIMERIE RICHARD | PARIS | [rule] | Dépôt légal : 2e trimestre 1954.ř. pp. [190-192] blank. Binding: Orange wrappers, trimmed flush. Front cover: [printed in black and all contained within a white oblong frame matching proportions of book:] FIRST PRINTING |FRANK HARRIS | MY LIFE | AND LOVES | Fifth volume | THE ATLANTIC LIBRARY. Spine: [lettered in white up spine, and all within a black panel:] MY LIFE AND LOVES | [in white across bottom of spine:] 10. Back cover: [in black:] FRANCS : 660 | NOT TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE U.K. OR U.S.A. | PRINTED IN FRANCE. Notes: The story behind this fabricated fifth volume of Harris’s celebrated memoirs will be found in Maurice Girodias, The Olympia Reader (New York: Grove Press, 1965), pp. 345-349.
[Two copies one Very Good, one Good, detailed description and extra images on request]