The Pearl: A Magazine of Facetiae and Voluptuous Reading was an erotic magazine issued monthly in London in 1879 and 1880.  Its publisher and editor was George Lazenby (died c. 1888).  One hundred and fifty copies were printed per issue, the cost was  twenty-five pounds each, and distribution was by mail order. Eighteen issues appeared, with two Christmas supplements.  A parody of contemporary family magazines, the periodical was a mix of short stories, novels, poetry and letters to the editor.  Topics included the upper class, sexual impairment, sadomasochism and incest.  While most of the contributors to The Pearl were anonymous, Lazenby wrote some of the content, and he included some flagellant poems by Algernon Charles Swinburne.  Political commentary about legislation, like the Contagious Diseases Act, and public figures, such as Annie Besant, Edmund Burke and William Gladstone, were also featured.  The British government closed The Pearl down for obscenity.  After it ceased publication, Lazenby went on to publish three other erotic magazines: The Cremorne, The Oyster, andThe Boudoir.  He also wrote several books, including The Romance of Lust; Randiana, or Excitable Tales; The Birchen Bouquet; andThe Sins of the Cities of the Plain.

The Pearl is typical Victorian erotica: fairly well-written, sporadically amusing, frequently disgusting.  An interesting relic of those times.

                                                                                       S. Gray

September 2026