(CURIOSA.) Rochester, John Wilmot, Earl of. Sodom: Ein Spiel. Translated by Théophile Marquardt. Title illustration and 15 raunchy, erotic Secessionist-style plates by Julius Klinger including 2 color mounted. Folio, original gilt-stamped burnt orange silk moiré covered boards, some gilt a bit rubbed away, tips rubbed with minor surface loss; hinges split but holding, light marginal soiling and scattered spotting, splits between a few gatherings. Leipzig: privately printed for subscribers, 1909
number 316 of 350 copies of this scarce obscene restoration closet drama. An acclaimed 2014 theatrical production by Seattle's Akropolis Performance Lab sums up the plot perfectly: "A political satire about the debaucherous court of England's King Charles II and his tolerance of Catholicism which, as far as post-Restoration Protestants were concerned, was buggery . . . In the fictional Kingdom of Sodom, King Bolloxinion legalizes same-sex sodomy for the preservation of his female subjects' genitalia. General erotic madness ensues. General Buggeranthus reports that the soldiers have embraced the new authorization as it saves them on the cost of prostitutes. Women turn to 'dildoes and dogs.' The Prince & Princess engage in an incestuous relationship. The Queen dies of venereal disease. And while the court physician recommends men should find their pleasure with women again, the King is determined to live out his days an enthusiastic sodomite"--Akropolis Performance Lab (akropolisperformancelab.com/activities/salons/sodom). The 2004 film based on the play, The Libertine, starred Johnny Depp playing Rochester and John Malkovich played Charles II.
