clipped from: www.independent.co.uk For 170 years, France kept its official hoard of erotica under lock and key. But a new and at times shocking exhibition is putting it on public display
Psst! Wanna see some dirty books and pictures?
France's official hoard of erotica and pornography, lovingly assembled by the Bibliothque Nationale over a period of 170 years, will be thrown open to the startled eyes of the public for the first time this week.
More than 350 books and prints from the forbidden section of the state library officially known as "L'Enfer" (hell) will be presented in an academically meticulous, but often frankly filthy, exhibition in Paris for three months from tomorrow.
The curators of the exhibition consented to give The Independent and its readers an advance peep at their show. Avert your eyes now, or better still, turn the page, if you think that you might be offended.