This Very Graphic Erotic Soviet Alphabet Book Is Sure to Make Putin Blush (NSFW)
And now I know my ABCs – in Russian.
By Leigh Lumford
Strolling along the walkways of the internet I came across this erotic alphabet book from 1931 by, the Soviets? Much to Vladimir Putin's shame, I'm sure, his Russian forefathers were willing to find pleasure through every orifice of the imagination. This erotic alphabet book, illustrated by the famed sculptor Sergei Dmitrievich Merkurov in 1931, is rumored to have been created to combat adult illiteracy, but as you'll notice, it's kind of hard to focus on the letters with satyrs, winged-penises, and ladies happily engaged in just about every activity imaginable.
Merkurov took inspiration for this work from ancient Greek and Roman art. The images exhibit a progressive mindset, multiple same sex partners and group sex abound. As my friend and podcaster Katharine Heller likes to say, "If you got pearls, you might want to clutch 'em." Nothing has ever made me wish I was an adult illiterate more than the idea of getting a text book like this one!
[h/t Charnel-House]
Image via Rarus Gallery