Illegal Copy of the Kama-Sutra (Circa 1945)
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$125.00
$125.00
per item
[“The sale of this book is restricted to medical men and married people.”] Mukherji, Dr. S Ntosh Kumar (ed. and transl.). Kama-Sutra of Vatsayana. Revised Second Edition. Circa 1945. Book is in good plus condition—spine and covers show fading.
Written in Sanskrit in the Third Century by Vatsayana (of whom practically nothing is known), Kama Sutra translates as “pleasure treatise.” Vatsayana introduced the concept that the pursuit of pleasure was of equal but not greater importance than spirituality and the quest for material wealth. This edition was published in Calcutta by the Oriental Agency in a far more conservative era when it was condemned as obscene. A rectangular text box on the title page advises that sale of the book “is restricted to medical men and married people.” This particular copy found its way into the United States, where it was then illegal, via a bookshop in Taipei. This book, with its amusing disclaimer, would make a droll engagement gift to today’s bride and groom. And, who knows? It might just might prove to be instructive.
“The human mind is scarcely able to withstand the impact of the overwhelming obscenity and sexually based desire for torture in the Kama Sutra.”
--U.S. Customs, 1962
Written in Sanskrit in the Third Century by Vatsayana (of whom practically nothing is known), Kama Sutra translates as “pleasure treatise.” Vatsayana introduced the concept that the pursuit of pleasure was of equal but not greater importance than spirituality and the quest for material wealth. This edition was published in Calcutta by the Oriental Agency in a far more conservative era when it was condemned as obscene. A rectangular text box on the title page advises that sale of the book “is restricted to medical men and married people.” This particular copy found its way into the United States, where it was then illegal, via a bookshop in Taipei. This book, with its amusing disclaimer, would make a droll engagement gift to today’s bride and groom. And, who knows? It might just might prove to be instructive.
“The human mind is scarcely able to withstand the impact of the overwhelming obscenity and sexually based desire for torture in the Kama Sutra.”
--U.S. Customs, 1962
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