Prostitution in the 19th Century

Prostitution was legal in the nineteenth century. As part of the General Local Regulations (AVP), municipalities could determine the regulations on this topic themselves. It is quite a search in a municipal archive to find such an ordinance. So when I came across a bounded collection with no less than forty nineteenth-century prostitution regulations from various municipalities at an online antiquarian bookshop a year ago,  I was overjoyed . My delight disappeared, however, quickly when I noticed the price tag. Shortly afterwards I discussed my beautiful findings with colleague Frank de Jong of the International Institute of Social History (IISH). He immediately had an interest in purchasing the collection and also wanted to scan it and make the data online available. The findings turned out to fit perfectly with the local regulations of various municipalities from the same period that the IISH already owned. The idea of adding and digitising the regulations has recently been real

There are several new or soon-to-be-published books on Nineteenth-Century prostitution that I want to read this winter. Here is an overview of them.   

Where to go for a night in town? In nineteenth-century Amsterdam leaflets with tips on where one could have a 'peek at lady servants' or meet  "greek nymphs" were handed out on the streets. (1) In other metropolia, newsstands offered pocketbooks with addresses and reviews of local brothels and prostitutes. The old guides are still popular. In 2020  The pretty women of Paris , printed in 1883, was sold for  6.000 dollars  at an auction. For historians, these urban pleasure guides are interesting resources. Not because the given reviews provide new insights into what men considered important qualities of  'women of the night'. Those remarks have not changed much during the centuries. What is of interest is where public women and houses were located in a metropolis, the prices of services and descriptions of establishments. Fortunately, the originals can still be viewed in libraries or online and contemporary reprints can be bought at reasonable prices. (2)     

On the 17th of February 2022 Johanna Bourke , professor in History at Birbeck, University of London, will give a lecture on Sex Work . The lecture for Gresham College will be streamed online. Registration is required via this link .   "In the late nineteenth century, highly contentious debates about prostitution were central to broader questions about women’s status within society, including their rights to property, entitlement to suffrage, and claims over their own bodies. Political scandals such as those over the 1860s Contagious Diseases Acts (which criminalized sex workers, not their customers) and the 1885 Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon (which was the first expose of child prostitution in the UK) not only reveal attitudes towards the commercialization of the body but have left a legacy that we live with today." Johanna has written interesting books on women's work and is also the principal researcher for the interdisciplinary project SHaME (Sexual Harms and Med

Last year a biography of one of the prominent social reformers and fighters for women's rights, Josephine Elizabeth Butler (1828-1906), was published. Although there have been several books written about her life -including an  autobiography - this new publication by Jane Robinson contains only 91 pages. (1) And even more striking: Josephine's life story from birth to death in chronicle order is told from pages 5-39. A remarkable book about a remarkable person.    Having a political reformer and abolitionist father combined with a Huguenot Christian mother, clearly influenced Josephine on her journey. At a young age, she marries George Butler, a schoolteacher and academic who would unconditionally support his wife's choices. The couple has four children of which their eldest daughter has a fatal accident in 1864. It is after this tragedy that Josephine starts becoming more actively involved in charity work and the abolitionist movement. "Women of the city" Josep

In addition to my previous blog post on chokers , I found an interesting online lecture series on the painting of Olympia by Manet. This particular episode included here, from a series of four videos, focuses on society and prostitution and is called: a social and sexual taboo.  The company responsible for this video is  Art d'Histoire . By producing video's in a lecture format their goal is to reach students and academics. The presentations contain references to mainly primary (printed) sources and according to the website, the content is entrusted to a team of historians and philosophers. The names of these researchers are, however, not included online.    All lectures are presented in French by  Lisa Martinot . Her presentation skills are excellent and the content is compelling and well researched. Unfortunately, the dubbed English version has been removed. The only addition I have to this particular lecture on prostitution is that I am missing a few excellent historical s

In 2016 I was asked if nineteenth-century women who wore a ribbon around their neck (or a choker  as it was called), were considered prostitutes? The reason for inquiring was a resurrection at the time of this type of necklace among celebrities and teenagers. And even now, five years later, Harpers Bazar still considers a choker a fashion trend . This past week during an online lecture on the Belle Epoque in Paris,  the choker was mentioned. This reminded me of the former question. So I did some searching for the answer. (1)   According to Encyclopaedia Britannica , the definition of a choker is:   "a necklace that fits closely around the neck like a snug, high collar". The reference source also explains that the choker became popular in the nineteenth century. In its most common early form, it contained one or several rows of pearls. Halfway through the century, a choker made of a velvet band with a pin or pearl became fashionable. The red ribbon version that was tied around