Wide Open

The history of erotic literature is long and distinguished.
It holds valuable lessons and insights
for the general reader, the sociologist, the student
of sexual behavior, and the literary specialist interested
in knowing how people of different cultures
and different times acted and how these
actions relate to the present.
Because of the inherent value to all students of
the human condition of these classic erotic works,
we have chosen not to alter this book in any way,
shape, or form. It is presented to the reader exactly
as it first appeared in print. Thus, all of the
subtleties are exposed to our view—the haste or
extreme care taken by the author and the original
publisher, the manner of speech and communication,
the colloquialisms of the time, the means of
expression, and the concepts of erotic stimulation
—both real and imaginary—used by the writer who
was, in every sense, representative of his time.
Originally privately printed as En Plen Air:
Mystères Nocturnes des Champs-Elysees;
Paris, Imprime au Temple de Cythere a
Paphos, 1935.
All