芬妮希尔 (1748)

《一个愉悦女人的回忆录》（英语：Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure），以别名《芬妮希尔》（Fanny Hill）著称，是一本由约翰·克莱兰德创作并在伦敦发行于1748年的情色小说。作者在囚禁于负债人监狱时完成该作品。该作品被认为是史上第一个英文原创色情散文集，也是第一个使用小说体裁的色情作品。由于该作品历来饱受争议及查禁，其已成为猥亵之同义词。

Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure – popularly known as Fanny Hill – is an erotic novel by the English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748 and 1749. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London, it is considered "the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel". It is one of the most prosecuted and banned books in history.

The book exemplifies the use of euphemism. The text has no swearing or explicit scientific terms for body parts, but uses many literary devices to describe genitalia. For example, the vagina is sometimes referred to as "the nethermouth".

A critical edition by Peter Sabor includes a bibliography and explanatory notes. The collection Launching "Fanny Hill" contains several essays on the historical, social and economic themes underlying the novel.

Publishing history

The novel was published in two installments, on 21 November 1748 and in February 1749, by Fenton Griffiths and his brother Ralph under the name "G. Fenton". There has been speculation that the novel was at least partly written by 1740, when Cleland was stationed in Bombay as an employee of the East India Company.

Initially, there was no governmental reaction to the novel. However, in November 1749, a year after the first installment was published, Cleland and Ralph Griffiths were arrested and charged with "corrupting the King's subjects". In court, Cleland renounced the novel and it was officially withdrawn.

As the book became popular, pirate editions appeared. It was once believed that the scene near the end, in which Fanny reacts with disgust at the sight of two young men engaging in anal intercourse, was an interpolation made for these pirated editions, but the scene is present in the first edition (p. xxiii). In the 19th century, copies of the book were sold underground in the UK, the US and elsewhere. In 1887, a French edition appeared with illustrations by Édouard-Henri Avril.

The book eventually made its way to the United States. In 1821, a Massachusetts court outlawed Fanny Hill. The publisher, Peter Holmes, was convicted for printing a "lewd and obscene" novel. Holmes appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Court. He claimed that the judge, relying only on the prosecution's description, had not even seen the book. The state Supreme Court was not swayed. The Chief Justice wrote that Holmes was "a scandalous and evil disposed person" who had contrived to "debauch and corrupt" the citizens of Massachusetts and "to raise and create in their minds inordinate and lustful desires".