A rather strange and rare oddity of clandestine publishing, Ambre la précoce (Early Amber) is a mishmash of coming-of-age sexual adventures for a group of young (some of them very young) friends. Published ‘in Brussels’ (though probably from the publisher’s offices in Toulouse) by Françis Flores in 1956, it was almost immediately banned by the French censor, only to be reissued a couple of years later under the title Le démon des teen-agers.

The anonymous illustrations are printed by photogravure in sepia on thin card, in a semi-photographic style uncommon in erotic illustration, but very much of the mid-1950s. The rear-mirror view of the two young women enjoying each other on the back seat is interesting and original. The same artist had already produced the illustrations for Moineau de Paris, which you can see here, and went on to produce a more developed portfolio of drawings for Les débordements de Michou, which are here.

Ambre la précoce was issued in a limited numbered edition of 800 copies.

We are grateful to Steve Mullins of the Olympia Press website (www.parisolympiapress.com) for these illustrations.