Songs of Bilitis" Sapphic Poetry Collection

[LGBTQ][Poetry] Louys, Pierre. Les Chansons Secretes de Bilitis [The Songs of Bilitis]. Paris: Au Cercle du Livre Precieux, 1961. Illustrated by Jacques Haumont. French. 36 pages, with six loose print illustrations enclosed. Printed on fine cream paper with pink accents. Inner leaves unbound in paper wrappers, as usual. One of four volumes in the eighteenth collection released by the publisher as part of "L'Ecrin Secret du Bibliophile" series. No. 180 of 1500. "Les Chansons Secretes de Bilitis" was first published in 1894 by Belgian eroticist Pierre Louys, who presented the poems as a collection by an ancient Greek courtesan and contemporary of Sappho named Bilitis. The collection is presented in three cycles "Bucoliques en Pamphilie", poems of Bilitis' childhood and first love, "Elegies a Lesbos", of her homosexual exploration, and "Epigrammes dans l'ile de Chypre", of Bilitis' later life as a writer and courtesan. Though Bilitis is not a real historical figure, Louys' fabulations occupy an important place in LGBTQ history as the namesake for the first American lesbian civil rights organization, Daughters of Bilitis. Very good condition. A beautifully illustrated book of Sapphic poetry. (Inventory #: 21213)