Arlington House 1980's Erotic Photo Books Front Covers

[glovesfan]

During the 1980's and early 1990's, a large series of oversized hardcover erotic-photography books (at least 54 that I know of as of mid-May 2013, and probably more) were published in the United States, by Arlington House, a now-defunct imprint of Crown Publishing, which is in turn a subsidiary of Random House, and in the United Kingdom by Arlington House, Loveline Publishing Ltd., Crescent, Magna, Colour Library Books, and possibly others. These books were sold in the United States, Great Britain and Germany that I know of for sure (there are German-language versions of several of these books) and likely other countries as well. In the United States, the books were sold in stores mainly through the now-closed Crown Books chain, which was an arm of Crown Publishing, and via mail order by Random House's Outlet Book Company and through the now-defunct Prevue magazine (Prevue's parent company Supergraphics actually continued to sell some of these titles online into the Internet era, and I remember ordering at least one book through their Web site while they had one). I am less familiar with what channels the books were sold through in the U.K., but I remember that Mayfair magazine, during the 1980's and early 1990's, had mail-order ads for many of them, sometimes under different titles than the U.S. versions.

The quality of the photography in these books was very high (identified photographers working on the series include Peter Barry, Tanya Heid and Pierre Cuisinier) and the topics covered the entire range from photography techniques to group sex. The majority of the books were softcore or even glamour-type photography, but there were several explicitly hardcore entries in the series. Several of the best-known British softcore and hardcore models, including Linzi Drew, Marie Harper, Jo Phillips, Felicity Stewart, Heather Mills McCartney, and Samantha Fox, appeared in various titles in this series.

As of April 2016, I own 42 books in the series (most are softcore pinup-type, softcore F/F or softcore M/F unless otherwise indicated):

01) Advanced Sex Positions (softcore M/F)
02) All Through The Night (oversized, hardcore and softcore M/F, includes photos from several "couples" books in the series - some of them are different; features a couple dozen pages of full-page images of Marie Harper from Lovers Behind Closed Doors)
03) Almost Naked: The Allure of Lingerie (lingerie photography, includes photos of Page 3 superstar/singer Samantha Fox)
04) Behind Closed Doors: A Marriage Manual (reprint of early-1970's book with B&W photos, authors identified as Drs. Phyllis and Eberhard Kronhauser)
05) Confessions of a French Maid (hardcore M/F, explicit vaginal penetration and oral sex)
06) Couples in Love (softcore M/F, photographer identified as Peter Barry, includes three of the same couples appearing in Sexual Positions and More Sexual Positions)
07) Encyclopedia of Love and Sex
08) Erotic Lingerie (lingerie, photographer identified as Peter Barry)
09) Exploring Sex (author identified as Honey du Venct, mostly color drawings with some photos)
10) Fanny Hill (softcore M/F, photo version of the classic erotic novel)
11) Foreplay (softcore M/F, photos taken from several "couples"-themed books in the series)
12) Group Sex: A Pictorial View (mostly softcore M/F but a couple of hardcore images, mostly fellatio)
13) Heat Wave (softcore M/F, photos drawn from several "couples"-themed books in the series, outdoor theme)
14) How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed (softcore M/F, author identified as Dr. Caroline Bertalot, photographs drawn from many different books in the series; this book was also released under the title "How To Keep Your Man Happy In Bed")
15) How To Keep Your Woman Happy In Bed (softcore M/F, author identified as Dr. Caroline Bertalot, photographs drawn from many different books in the series)
16) Lady Chatterley's Lover (softcore M/F, photo version of the classic erotic novel)
17) Lovers Behind Closed Doors (hardcore M/F, explicit vaginal penetration and oral sex, photographer identified as Tanya Heid, Marie Harper is the female model: http://vintage-erotica-forum.com/t45...ie-harper.html)
18) More Sexual Positions (softcore M/F, sequel to Sexual Positions below, same couples but many different photos) (photographer identified as Peter Barry)
19) Orgy: An Erotic Experience (softcore M/F but verging on hardcore, photographer identified as Pierre Cuisinier)
20) The Perfumed Garden (softcore M/F, re-releaseed under the Magna imprint in the early 1990's as part of a miniseries including Lady Chatterley's Lover, Fanny Hill and The Kama Sutra)
21) Personal Pleasures (solo F)
22) Private Lines (solo F, photosets with erotic texts)
23) Private Parts (softcore and hardcore M/F, F/F and solo F, pictures taken from several lesbian and couples-themed books in the series; features pics of Marie Harper from her hardcore sets in Lovers Behind Closed Doors)
24) Sensual Lingerie (lingerie, author identified as Brad Stephen, photos taken from the other lingerie-themed books in the series, includes photos of Page 3 superstar/singer Samantha Fox)
25) Sex Fantasies (softcore M/F, author identified as John Walsh)
26) Sexual Positions (softcore M/F, photographer identified as Peter Barry, text by Glenn Wilson, photographs are in soft-focus)
27) Sexual Secrets (softcore M/F and F/F, some possible hardcore, photos from various books in the series including "Sex Games")
28) Solo Flights: The Pleasures of Masturbation (solo F, Jo Phillips is one of the models: http://vintage-erotica-forum.com/showthread.php?t=4533)
29) Special Sexual Positions (softcore M/F, oversized, photographer identified as Peter Barry)
30) Techniques of Making Love (softcore M/F, photographer identified as Pierre Cuisinier)
31) The Art of Erotic Photography (nude and pinup, author/photographer identified as Peter Barry)
32) The Body Kiss: The Pleasure of Oral Sex (softcore M/F and F/F, one lesbian couple and one straight couple)
33) The Complete Book of Sexual Loving (omnibus edition of Techniques of Making Love, Women Loving Women and Orgy: An Erotic Experience) (photographer identified as Pierre Cuisinier)
34) The Illustrated Kama Sutra (softcore M/F, re-releaseed under the Magna imprint in the early 1990's as part of a miniseries including Lady Chatterley's Lover, Fanny Hill and The Perfumed Garden)
35) The Lingerie Book (lingerie, photographer identified as Peter Pugh-Cook, includes many photos of Page 3 superstar/singer Samantha Fox)
36) The World of Sex (photos taken from various books in the series and many other sources)
37) Touch of Lace (lingerie, photographer identified as Peter Barry)
38) Touch of Leather (lingerie/leather, photographer identified as Peter Barry)
39) Touch of Silk (lingerie, the first book in the series, as far as I know) (photographer identified as Peter Barry)
40) Woman to Woman (hardcore F/F, photographer identified as Tanya Heid, models identified as Jo Phillips and - tentatively - Felicity Stewart a/k/a Nikki Downey) (lesbian)
41) Women Behind Closed Doors (hardcore F/F, photographer identified as Pierre Cuisinier, models identified as Linzi Drew and Marie Harper) (lesbian)
42) Women Loving Women (softcore F/F, photographer identified as Pierre Cuisinier) (lesbian)
Slipcovers and frontispieces for these books are below:



I would really love to find other books in the series (one I'm trying to track down is apparently titled "Contact"). Books I know of for sure that I don't currently have include:

Confessions of a Call Girl
Girlfriends
Heat
Heat II
Heat III
Heat and Friends
How To Keep Your Man Happy In Bed
Lust: A Lover's Manual
Sex Games (the female model in this book is none other than Paul McCartney's ex, Heather Mills!)
Sexual Secrets
Two Women in Love
The Perfumed Garden
The Art of Mud Wrestling
The Art of Photographing the Model
Women in Love


If you know of other titles in this series, by all means post them here (with covers or photos if you have them)! I'm hoping this thread can become a central resource for all those fantastic books.

(5/12/13: Cover for Personal Pleasures added.)

[Frovo]

Possible entry: Two Women in Love (photographer: Peter Barry)



Colour Library Books Ltd, England
ISBN 3-88674-041-2

[Snake12]

21) Sensual Lingerie (author identified as Brad Stephen, photos taken from the other lingerie-themed books in the series, includes photos of Page 3 superstar/singer Samantha Fox)

Does anyone know the name of the model on the cover?

[azzthom]

This has probably been posted before, but at the following link:-

http://neatopotato.net/xnovel/

There is a large collection of such novels, including Arlington House, many of them with scans of the cover. It is, of course, a free site. I am not sure whether the contents can be downloaded or not, but the images can obviously be saved.

ETA: Oops! I wasn't paying attention! The link I've provided is to erotic novels rather than the "coffee table" books specified in the OP. Sorry. I'm not sure why 'Arlington House' seemed familiar from that site, as it obviously isn't there. There are a lot of covers though.

[Bosie]

"The Perfumed Garden" is another book in this series, publisher is Loveline. The model photographed for that book is particularly beautiful I might add!

[glovesfan]

Originally Posted by Bosie

"The Perfumed Garden" is another book in this series, publisher is Loveline. The model photographed for that book is particularly beautiful I might add!

I've heard of that one but don't have it. Do you have any scans of the cover or any other part? (It was republished by Magna.)

[Bosie]

Hi Glovesfan, here is the front cover to the book you're interested in, The Perfumed Garden. I don't know who the female model is unfortunately!

[Bosie]

here are some more pictures, from inside the book. Beautiful photography and a very beautiful female model! If you are able to could you post up some pictures from the book "Techniques of Making Love" that you have above? Thanks

[Immy]

There was a great US film magazine called Prevue that heavily advertized these books. I've found ads for most of the missing titles you mention glovesfan. These are small b&w ads but at least you get a look at the covers. Here's a sample. Let me know if you want scans of more.

[glovesfan]

Originally Posted by Immy

There was a great US film magazine called Prevue that heavily advertized these books. I've found ads for most of the missing titles you mention glovesfan. These are small b&w ads but at least you get a look at the covers. Here's a sample. Let me know if you want scans of more.

Bosie, Immy, thanks! I'm quite familiar with Prevue - indeed, I have a dozen or so old issues of it squirreled away around my place - and I in fact ordered the majority of my collection from them around the turn of the 1990's. They were still doing business as Supergraphics well into the 1990's. I would certainly appreciate it if you could provide more scans from the catalog pages, Immy. From the page you've provided, I have Lovers Behind Closed Doors, The Body Kiss and Advanced Sexual Positions (though the image is from inside the book itself and not a cover image).

Bosie, I'll see what I can do about getting some scans from Techniques of Making Love (one of the best books in the series IMO) when I get my desktop set up again; I had some major repair work done on it the past week so I'm still on my laptop at the moment. I'm going to look on Amazon and see if I can find The Perfumed Garden.