The Bishopsgate Institute has recently received a major donation of Soho Bibles, which form a satellite collection to the Under the Counter Archive. On Wednesday 11 November I’ll be giving a talk there titled “The Bible Makers of Soho”. Here is the summary:
Soho Bibles, also known as typescripts, were small typed booklets of erotic stories sold illicitly in the back rooms of Soho’s bookshops from the 1950s onwards.
They were all made by hand. The earliest contained only typed stories, but over time they became increasingly illustrated, first with drawings and later with photographs. Some of the people who produced them became notorious, among them Ron “the Millionaire Dustman” Davey and Mike Freeman. Because the booklets were cheap and easy to make, anyone with an erotic story, a typewriter and a Gestetner duplicator could join the trade, and many did.
Professor Oliver Carter, author of Under the Counter: Britain’s Trade in 8mm Hardcore Pornographic Films, will use police files and newspaper reports to tell the stories of these writers, illustrators and dealers, and of the police officers who pursued them. The talk will be accompanied by an exhibition of Soho Bibles from the new donation.
