Fanny Hill

Fanny Hill - also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, is a novel by John Cleland.

Written in 1749 while in debtor's prison in London, England, it is the first "erotic" novel and its publication caused a furor. Immediately upon its release, the Church of England asked the British Secretary of State to "stop the progress of this vile Book, which is an open insult upon Religion and good manners." As a result, John Cleland was arrested and charged with "corrupting the King's subjects."

Nonetheless, copies of the book were sold "underground" and eventually made its way to the United States where, in 1821, the book was banned for obscenity.

In 1963, "G.B. Putnam" published the book under the title "John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" which too was immediately banned for obscenity, triggering a court case by its publisher.

In a landmark case in 1966, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the banned novel did not meet the Roth standard for obscenity.