We tend to think that people today are so much more sophisticated, world and – of course – perverse than anything that’s come before. The fact of the matter is that sexuality and pornography has been around since the dawn of mankind and proof of that stretches back to include everything from ancient newsprints to hieroglyphics and cave drawings. Throughout history, the Victorians are often seen as being the most puritanical with stories about covering the legs of tables for being too provocative. While the Victorians were great at putting on a front of the ultimate propriety, they were also light years ahead of us when it comes to down and dirty porn.

The Pearl – The Dirtiest Magazine You’ve Never Heard Of

Forget Playboy, Penthouse and even Hustler – The Pearl was the first magazine that people bought, then denied ever seeing. The Opal was published for a run of 18 editions plus two Christmas Annuals. It featured serialized erotic stories, drawings and information. Ultimately, the magazine was shut down by a long campaign headed up by local authorities who threatened to charge the publishers and anyone caught in possession of the lurid rag with the crime of distributing obscene literature. The Pearl was eventually shut down effectively for its over the top obscenity as well as its satirical format which often poked fun at the government and establishment. Today it enjoys a new-found popularity after it was loaded onto the Internet and can now be accessed free.

The Nunnery Tales

The Nunnery Tales is one of the first works of erotica that blended religion and sex along with every deviance you can think of. It was published by an anonymous author in 1866 and is thought to actually be an updated version of a French book published in the late 1700s. The book became wildly popular around Victorian England not only for its erotic depiction of lesbian nuns getting it on but also for the way it parodied religious dogma which many felt to be oppressive during that time.

Psychopathia Sexualis

When Richard von Krafft-Ebing wanted to publish an account of various sexual disorders he had encountered as a medical professional, he thought giving the book a Latin name would make it sound like dullsville to the lay reader. Instead it had the opposite effect with everyone from chambermaids to refined ladies and their husbands devouring every salacious detail in the book. The collection of case histories covers the mundane (lesbianism, homosexuality and anal sex) all the way to things that would get a book banned today, including incest, necrophilia and coprophilia. The book went on to be published in several newer versions and even later inspired a laughable exploitation film.

Photo Cards

While the majority of erotica from the Victorian era came in the forms of books, photography was a popular and evolving science at the time. And, as with any emerging technology, pornography buffs were only too happy to put it to the test. Photos from this time took a while to set up and take, so models needed to remain in position and essentially motionless for more than a minute, making some of the pornography from this time a bit strange to look at now. Women tended to remain neutral and, even when being photographed during sex, their faces didn’t exactly scream pleasure. Still, erotic photos from the Victorian era remain popular today and, aside from the more neutral looks being given by models, many of the poses are seen in mainstream and fetish magazines to this day.

The fact of the matter is that there is simply nothing new under the sun – or under the seedy moon either. Erotica, pornography and dirty fun have always been popular, no matter what the social mores of the time dictated. While Victorians may have been prudish and proper during the day, their reading material and photos from the era prove that everyone loves to get down and dirty.