Klaw Mutrix Magzines: Transvestism 1960s

Irving Klaw best know for his amazing photographs of top models, including Bettie Page, was also a publisher of digest sized 'zines. Published by his Mutrix Publishing Company in New York City and later in Jersey City, they focused on BDSM, girl fights and female domination. A sub-genre was the series of transsexual, FI, TV titles published in the early 1960s. Here from deep in the Vasta Archives is a selection of covers and pages. Note the artwork by Gene Bilbrew, aka Eneg.

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FEMALE IMPERSONATORS Madame Arthur Paris 1960s

The drag clubs in Paris,  Madame Arthur's and it's sister club La Carrousel, were ground breaking venues in Europe, presenting nightly shows of sophisticated female impersonators in a cabaret environment. Fifty-plus tears ago, and mostly forgotten in today's digital world, filled with news of the long overdue acceptance of gay and transgender men and women, this program, circa early 1960s, is a window into what "trans performers" of the era looked like. 

Among the regular performers at the club and featured in the program are Coccinelle (the first male to female sex change in France), Bambi, Zambella, Lola Chanel, Cooky & Caline and Capucine. Note the back cover advertising for La Carrousel.

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Transvestism Transsexuals Female Impersonators: Magazines + Paperbacks

Gender and lifestyle finally bursts onto the surface of American culture and society with the recognition of transsexuals and transgender man and women. Along the way there were the cross-dressing, female impersonators in New York drag clubs, the pandering of magazines like He-She and Female Mimics as well as Travestia and other ground breaking publications, aimed directly at men seriously interested in exploring their feminine side.

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FLAGELLATION NOVELS: Select Bibliotheque

No exploration of the fetish, s/m illustrators of the 1940s, '50s and '60s (Willie, Stanton and Bilbrew in the US and Carlo in France circa 1920s, '30s) is complete without first visiting the precursor to the modern era, Select Bibliotheque. Beginning in 1907 and continued to 1939, Select Bibliotheque publishing nearing 100 titles devoted to flagellation and depictions of female domination, bondage, fetishism, sado-masochistic behavior and both male and female submissiveness. The texts were primarily written by Don Brennus Alera, Bernanrd Vallones, Roland Brevannes and illustrated by artist who signed as Tack, Esbey and Selbey. My theory about the artists who signed Esbey and Selbey is they used the initials/name of the publishing company as their "nom de plume": Esbey = S.B. and Selbey = Select B. All aspects of Select Bibliotheque remain somewhat of a mystery as collectors in France try to piece together the story of publishing company that survived for approx. 32 years and published less than 100 titles during that time. 

The art, naturally in a style contemporaneous with the time in which the books were published, was naively drawn and in keeping with the turn-of-the-century. However from the late 'teens and through to the end of life span of Select Bibliotheque the illustrations became antiquated and out of place in the "modern" world. That being said, the style of the illustrations simultaneously added a certain kinkiness to the overall impact of the books, from the covers to the internal illustrations.

From deep in the archives (I have not had any Select Bibliotheque books for sale in many years) are scans of a handful of covers and pages. Searching the web will reveal more detailed information about this important, underground publishing company.

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