The Private Case of the British Library

British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

 is a collection of pornographic books and other items, not normally available to general readers. It was established in 1857 and the core of the collection is the bequest of the Victorian collector Henry Spencer Ashbee

Henry Spencer Ashbee

Henry Spencer Ashbee was a book collector, writer, and bibliographer, notorious for his massive, clandestine three volume bibliography of erotic literature written under the pseudonym of Pisanus Fraxi.-Life:...

 in 1900. Other significant contributions include a bequest of Charles Reginald Dawes in 1964, and Beecher Moore

Beecher Moore

Beecher Moore, was a highly influential figure in the development of dinghy sailing in the United Kingdom after the Second World War...

 also in 1964. None of the items in the collection have been purchased or acquired via copyright deposit. In 1981 Patrick J Kearney compiled a bibliography of the 1,914 significant books in the Private Case. which includes a substantial introduction by American social critic and folklorist Gershon Legman

Gershon Legman

Gershon Legman was an American cultural critic and folklorist.-Life and work:Legman was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania to Emil and Julia Friedman Legman, both of Hungarian/Romanian Jewish descent; his father was a railroad clerk and butcher...

. The collection contains works by notable figures in the world of written erotica including The Earl of Rochester

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester , styled Viscount Wilmot between 1652 and 1658, was an English Libertine poet, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. He was the toast of the Restoration court and a patron of the arts...

, The Marquis de Sade and William Simpson Potter

William Simpson Potter

William Simpson Potter was a minor 19th century English author. From available information, Potter was a friend of Henry Spencer Ashbee, a merchant, bibliographer, bibliophile, authority on the life and works of Cervantes, and collector of erotic materials...

.

In recent years the British Library has dispersed much of this material formerly kept in reserve into the main collections.