Confessions libertines (Libertine Confessions) is one of the better-written erotic novels published by Maurice Duflou in the 1930s. The title page suggests it was written by the Comtesse de J—, but it wasn’t; it is actually by Duflou’s associate Johannès Gros, a journalist who could readily turn his hand to a good set of ‘true confessions’.

The eight engravings by Mertens are cleanly drawn and imaginative, a good foil to Gros’s narrative.

The title page amusingly gives the place of publication as ‘Partout et nulle part’, ‘Everywhere and nowhere’.

We are grateful to Steve Mullins of the Olympia Press website (www.parisolympiapress.com) for these illustrations.