Criteria for development of the Belle Epoque Erotica collection
Works for the Belle Epoque Erotica collection fall into three main categories: first, primary texts by Proust’s contemporaries who wrote fiction, poetry, or essays during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly texts that feature gay- and gender-themed discourse; second, criticism of or reflections on these authors and their works; and, third, works that provide information on the cultural context in which Proust and his peers were writing and/or that serve to show how the cultural context, especially society’s views toward homosexuality, may or may not have changed from Proust’s era to our own. Many of the primary texts we have recently acquired were identified by Professor Lawrence Schehr of the University of Illinois French Department. Secondary texts have been identified mainly by searches of WorldCat performed by employees of the Modern Languages & Linguistics Library. We welcome suggestions of other primary and secondary texts that would fit well in our collection. Please send any such suggestions to Librarian Caroline Szylowicz of the Kolb-Proust Archive at kpa@illinois.edu .
Wish List
The following works are texts that we seek to add to our collection, but that are currently unavailable:
Rachilde. L’aérophage.
Rachilde. Madame de Lydone, assassin: roman.
Véry, Pierre. Cagoules.
Véry, Pierre. Jack l’éventreur.
Véry, Pierre. Inspecteur D.