Svenska handelshögskolans bibliotek

Following the death of her parents, a young and innocent Fanny Hill travels to London to find work. She has barely arrived, however, when she is lured into a brothel and has a sexual experience with another woman. A costumer gets her out of there and becomes her lover, but a whole new world has opened to Fanny, who sets out to explore all the pleasures her body has in store for her.

Considered the first prose pornography ‘Fanny Hill - Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure’ (1748) is one of the most prosecuted and banned books of all time. It has often been quoted in popular culture, in Tom Lehrer’s song “Smut” and in an episode of ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circis’ to name a couple.

LUST Classics is a collection of erotic literary classics. Although some of their content can appear controversial, these titles have been selected due to their historical importance within the field of erotic literature.


John Cleland (1709-1789) was an English writer, most famous for the erotic novel ‘Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure’, which got him and is publisher arrested. For a hundred years, the novel could only be purchased illegally.