The Memoirs of Fanny Hill John Cleland – The Memoirs of Fanny Hill by John Cleland was originally published in 1748. It is an erotic novel, and is considered the first pornographic novel to be published. It is written in the form of two long letters by Frances ‘Fanny’ Hill, to a woman known only as ‘Madam’. Whilst Frances is now married with children and living a happy and luxurious existence, the letters recount the earlier, more scandalous stages of her life. Starting with a poor childhood, the letters tell of how, after her parents died, she went to London and ended up working in a brothel. There she meets her current husband Charles, who encouraged her to leave this lifestyle – after becoming lovers, Charles was sent away overseas for a while during which time Frances went on to have several lovers. Eventually they reunite.A year after the first installment had been published, Cleland and his publisher were arrested and charged with ‘corrupting the King’s subjects’. Interestingly enough, Cleland had finished The Memoirs of Fanny Hill whilst in prison for debt. When the case of corruption went to court, Cleland renounced the book, claiming that he could only ‘wish from his soul that the book be buried and forgot’.
About the author
John Cleland (1709 1789) was an English novelist, most famousand infamousas the author of the erotic novel Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.He was born in Kingston upon Thames in Surrey but grew up in London, where his father was first an officer in the British Army and then a civil servant; he was also a friend to Alexander Pope, and Lucy Cleland was a friend or acquaintance of both Pope, Viscount Bolingbroke, Chesterfield, and Horace Walpole. The family possessed good finances and moved among the finest literary and artistic circles of London.Cleland entered Westminster School in 1721, but he left or was expelled in 1723. His departure was not for financial reasons, but whatever misbehavior or allegation had led to his departure is unknown. Historian J. H. Plumb speculates that Cleland’s puckish and quarrelsome nature was to blame, but, whatever caused Cleland to leave, he entered the British East India Company after leaving school. He began as a soldier and worked his way up into the civil service of the company and lived in Bombay from 1728 to 1740. He returned to London when recalled by his dying father. Upon William’s death, the estate went to Lucy for administration. She, in turn, did not choose to support John.
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