Viva España (Long Live Spain) is a portfolio of twenty (nineteen plus the title page) of ‘aguas fuertes’ (explicit watercolours), clearly by the hand of a trained and accomplished engraver. The styles of the compositions vary, the most successful being the simplest, almost patterns of light and dark, adding to their mysterious eroticism. It has to be said that there is not much to suggest a thematic link with the Spain of the title, adding to the suspicion that Señor Torito was not a native of that land.

Despite knowing almost nothing about the provenance of this intriguing portfolio, it is a small and important treasure in the library of 1920s erotica, and we are delighted to add it to our growing resource.

We are very grateful to Hans-Jürgen Döpp for these images; Hans-Jürgen, the compiler of many books on erotic art, curates the Venusberg online gallery and bookshop which you can find here.