Widener 'Inferno' Guards Choice Collection of Erotica, Miscellany

Behind locked metal gates on the sixth level of Widener smolders the "Inferno," the University collection of erotica.

Half a dozen rows of stacks enclosed in the gates contain the College Library's varied, though not particularly vast, assemblage of erotic literature.

But the volumes on the shelves of the "Inferno," or Cage, as most Library officials choose to call it, are by no means limited to work of an erotic nature. Mingled with studies on white slavery and perversion, one finds Dante's "Divine Comedy," Browning's "Complete Poems," and the papers of the Office of Civil Defense.

Although erotica burns brightest in the "Inferno," Robert H. Haynes, Assistant Librarian of the Colege Library, hastens to point out that the Cage was not solely created to harbor such literature.

Dante, for example, rates a spot on the secluded shelves along with Frank Harris and Fanny Hill because of the value of a particular edition of "The Divine Comedy." Editions that are rather valuable, but not quite valuable enough to ocupy space in the Houghton Rare Book Library, are locked in the "Inferno" to asure protection. Several beautifully-bound volumes of "The Arabian Nights," of Browning, and of Balzac are kept in the Cage for this reason.

Notes and papers used for occasional serious research are stored behind the gates to prevent possible loss. When one Wilbur F. Henderson of Conway, New Hampshire, donated nine large cases of longhand notes concerning bird migrations and weather changes over a period of 34 years, the notes were locked in the Cage for preservation. Patriotic blurbs and other notes from the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, the papers of the Massachusetts Committee of Public Safety, and a collection of photographs of archaeological items have also found security in the "Inferno" stacks. Poor-paper books and those in shabby condition are labelled "XP" and put in the Cage for purposes of preservation.

Preserve Erotica

For a number of reasons the "Inferno" is used to shelter the erotic literature. Preservation is also a paramount consideration here. According to Haynes, studies like Freud's "interpretation of Dreams" and Havelock Ellis' "Psychology of Sex" are kept locked up because "the Library was continualy losing these looks."

Pictorial magazines like the "Annual of American Photography" were mutilated when they remained fairly accessible to students. Haynes pointed out some issues of the periodical, which is now sent to the Cage, from which pictures had been torn.

A section that Haynes prefers to call "drug-store novels" was put in the"inferno" for quite a different reason. Several Years ago, when these cheaply-bound, cheaply-written books dotted the Library's modern literature sections, officials discovered that the strong attraction of the novels detracted from the efficiency of some librarians. Haynes himself usually assigns these works and others, most of which may be considered obscene, to the "Inferno."

The Widener "drug-store novels" differ a great deal from the present "breast-sellers" offered in pocket-book form on bookstands today. They are almost always bound with a brightly-colored cover, and are printed on coarse, cheap paper. While the more recent drugstore favorites feature ill-clad or unclad women, the Widener volumes make an appeal via racy titles.

Banned Volumes

Books that have been banned, either in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or throughout the country, are harbored in the "Inferno" for obvious reasons. All works on contraception are sent to the Cage, since they are banned in this State. The unexpurgated edition of D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterly's Lover," and Henry Miller's "Tropic of Capricorn," banned in the United States, find refuge here.

Haynes said it is more than legal necessity alone that induces officials to keep such books in the "Inferno." "From a purely practical point of view, books of such a nature must be kept locked up, or people would steal them."

And, despite all the precautions taken to protect the books, Miller's "Tropic of Capricorn" has been lost anyway.

Still another measure has been taken to preclude possible theft or loss of the books. The bottom shelves of the "Inferno" stacks are now completely bare. According to Haynes, "John Shea (superintendent of the stacks in Widener) and myself often used to find the aisles of the 'Inferno' strewn with books." There is a small space between the bottom of the stacks and the floor, and it seems that students studying on the fifth level directly below the Cage were inclined to reach up through this crevice, attempting to snare some erotic literature.

Divisions of Erotica

Haynes breaks down the collection of erotica into several classifications. In the fiction division, three levels exist. On the first is the Lawrence novel, Miller's endeavors rank in the second class, while on the third level are the so-called "drug-store novels."

A glance at the titles of these novels seems to indicate that authors who fit in the last category are almost completely preoccupied with sin, virginity, and mariage. Easily a dozen books, for example, bear titles including the word "sin." Some of these are "Born to Sin." "Sin is Man's Twin," and "The Constant Sinner." Sundry types of virgins are considered, including "13 Carat Virgin," "Professional Virgin," and "Broadway Virgin." The stacks are studded with gaudily colored volumes which sport such appealing names as "Roue the 4th." "No Bed of Her Own," "Naked Glory," "Bare Living," and "Bedroom Eyes."

Perhaps one of the modern classics of autobiographical pornography, Frank Harris' "My Life and Loves," is on the "Inferno" shelves. The four volume affair is little more than a detailed chronicle of the author's sexual experiences, from the first grade on Benvenuto Cellini's "Autobiography." on the other hand, has a place in the "Inferno principally because of the fine edition.

In the non-fiction group, Haynes pointed out several categories. Probably the largest group in the Widener assemblage is formed by the psychological studies in sex-treatments of narcissism, bisexuality, homesexuality, frigidity, and other variations.

Art of Flagellation

But probably the most fascinating section in this class deals with works on sadism and masochism in love, most particularly, the art of flagellation. One finds among the volumes discussing this subject "The Strap Returns: New Notes on Flagellation," "Presented in Leather," "A History of the Rod: Flagellation and Flagellants," and "Tender Bottom."

A second category in the non-fiction group is what one may call sociological studies. These attempt a broad, objective survey of some particular field. One example of such work is "Traders in Women: A Comprehensive Survey--of White Slavery," a sensational expose of white slavery practices from Bombay to Brooklyn.

Another example, "The Hindu Art of Love," describes in its central section 243 "modes of congress." After listing many of the modes, the author adds, somewhat superfluously, "There are further provinces of congress which demonstrate beyond cavil the immoral absorption of the Hindu with sensual behavior." Other studies included in this group range from Herbert Asbury's works on the underworlds of America's big cities, to "A Collection of Amorous Tales from the East."

Books on nudism like "On Going Naked" and "Adventures in Nakedness," and scholarly studies in erotica, like Eric Partridge's "Shakespeare's Bawdy" make up the remaining two categories of the second group described by Haynes.

Widener officials are, of course, sensitive to the rigid Massachusetts laws concerning obscene books, and are rather reluctant to discuss the whole matter. Circulation of the "Inferno" volumes is limited to those concerned with serious study such as research for a thesis.

According to Keyes D. Metcalf, Librarian of Harvard College, "Although the College has not actively sought to acquire a collection of erotica, such a collection has just grown. Part of it, some especially rare books, is kept in Houghton Library. But the books that we have now in Widener are kept in the Cage in order to limit circulation to serious scholars, and to prevent the loss of these books which undoubtedly would follow if they were left on the open shilves."