Gamiani, ou une nuit d’excès (Gamiani, or A Night of Excess), generally believed to have been written by Alfred de Musset, is one of the best-known and most-illustrated of French erotic novels. Based on de Musset’s experiences with George Sand and her lesbian lover, Gamiani opens with Alcide watching Countess Gamiani and her young lover Fanny enjoying one another’s bodies. Very much aroused, Alcide reveals himself and joins them, and they spend the rest of their time together sharing their intimate stories and re-enacting scenes from them. Interestingly the Dignimont-illustrated edition offers Alcide a second night (deux nuits) of excess; it depends where you start measuring the twenty-four hours.

Gamiani has been constantly in print in French; if you would like to read it in English then either the edition published in 2003 by the Erotic Print Society (with illustrations by Vania Zouravliov) or the one published by Harper Perennial in 2007 are both reasonable translations.

The Dignimont-illustrated Gamiani was published by Maurice Duflou with the typically-Duflou spoof imprint of ‘Se trouve à Genève, à l’Enseigne du Chat pour Chat’ (located in Geneva, at the sign of the cat of all cats). The edition was of 420 numbered copies.

We are very grateful to our friend Frédéric for sharing these illustrations.