Sodomites, Pederasts, and Tribades in Eighteenth-Century France

Jeffrey Merrick is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the author of Order and Disorder Under the Ancien Regime and coeditor of Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France, the latter also published by Penn State University Press.

Contents Preface List of Abbreviations Glossary IntroductionPart I: Surveillance of the Parisian SubcultureA. Reports from the Archives of the BastilleB. Reports of the Watch/Guard and the CommissairesC. Reports of the Swiss Guard in the Champs-Elysees and the CommissairesD. Reports of Commissaires Foucault and DesormeauxPart II: Representations of Same-Sex RelationsE. Gossip and SlanderF. TraditionG. EnlightenmentH. FictionsNotesRecommended ReadingIndex

"Merrick's translations sound colloquial, his documentation is impressive, and his volume makes an important contribution to our knowledge of the sexual mores of eighteenth-century Paris."-William F. Edmiston, New Perspectives on the Eighteenth Century "This volume will be of interest to students and scholars of LGBT studies and the history of sexuality in providing new sources to an English-language audience. The editorial apparatus, including introductions, annotations, and a glossary, will help guide the reader through the different sections of what is intended to form a comprehensive view of an eighteenth-century subculture."-Reginald McGinnis, Journal of the History of Sexuality "The French archives for the eighteenth century provide the fullest evidence for the origins of the modern Western sexual system. Jeffrey Merrick has shown himself the supreme master of these materials in his many translations and interpretive essays. In this new book, he gives us a stunning interim summation. Merrick and his colleagues in their database of thousands of same-sex cases are preparing to lay bare the foundations of a new kind of French Revolution."-Randolph Trumbach, author of Sex and the Gender Revolution: Heterosexuality and the Third Gender in Enlightenment London "Based on the most extensive research ever undertaken on the subject, this groundbreaking volume lets readers see for themselves how life was lived in the eighteenth century by those who refused to conform to sexual norms. Jeffrey Merrick is an unerring guide to this often obscured world, now brought out of the shadows thanks to his scholarly brilliance."-Lynn Hunt, author of Inventing Human Rights "Using heretofore unknown or little-explored sources, Sodomites, Pederasts, and Tribades breaks new ground by bringing to light the full breadth and complexity of the world of same-sex sexual relations in eighteenth-century Paris. With clear translations that keep the flavor of the original documents and are carefully annotated for the nonexpert, this anthology will no doubt become a foundational text in the history of sexuality."-Nina Kushner, author of Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris "As both a research intervention and a teaching tool, Sodomites, Pederasts, and Tribades accomplishes a rare feat. It simultaneously showcases the process and the results of archival research."-Andrew Israel Ross, H-France