1971 Book of LGBTQ Photography and Essays "The Other Face of Love"

Raymond De Becker

First Edition

[LGBTQ][Photography][Essays] De Becker, Raymond. The Other Face of Love. New York: Bell Publishing Company, 1971. First American edition. Illustrated throughout with over 100 black-and-white images. Original violet cloth binding with gilt title on spine, in original pictorial dust jacket featuring a duotone image of two Edwardian women embracing. Originally published in French in 1963 as L'autre face de l'amour, this foundational work by Belgian intellectual Raymond de Becker presents an ambitious, comparative history of same-sex love across cultures, epochs, and ideologies. Drawing upon literary, mythological, religious, and psychoanalytic sources, de Becker examines same-sex desire as it was perceived and practiced from Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt to Renaissance Europe and modern times. He navigates both condemnation and celebration, tracing how historical figures—from Emperor Hadrian and Antinous to Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci—expressed homosexuality and navigated repression. Chapters such as “Was the Devil a Homosexual?” and “The Latent Homosexual Structure of Christianity” highlight how theology and power shaped attitudes, while other sections explore traditions in East Asia, India, and the Islamic world with rare anthropological detail. Translated by Margaret Crosland and Alan Daventry, the volume attempts to “see love between men and between women in its historical, scientific, and artistic context,” offering an early and serious academic treatment of homosexuality unmarred by clinical bias or moral condemnation. The book’s comprehensiveness and breadth remain striking: it addresses sexual customs, laws, and taboos, with discussions of sacred eroticism, effeminate courtesans, gender variance, and punitive violence. Slight edge wear to dust jacket; binding sound and pages clean. Overall very good condition. A landmark in LGBTQ historiography, The Other Face of Love is an essential acquisition for collections focusing on queer history, sexuality studies, and cultural anthropology.

Item #22176

Price: $225.00