A New Description of Merryland. Containing A Topographical, Geographical, and Natural History of That Country

TitleA New Description of Merryland. Containing A Topographical, Geographical, and Natural History of That Country
Year for Search1741
Authors[Stretser], [Thomas] [pseud?]
Tertiary AuthorsPheuquewell, Roger [pseud.]
Volume / Edition5th ed. [Probably 1st ed.].
Date Published1741
PublisherPtd. for W. Jones [Actually Edmund Curll]
Place PublishedBath, Eng. [Actually London]
Annotation

A real problem. It certainly uses the utopian form, but pronouncing the surname of the pseudonym will reveal its true character, early pornography. Merryland is a woman's body, but the presentation is as a country. The author wrote a critique of his own work--[Thomas Stretser], Merryland Displayed: or, Plagiarism, Ignorance, and Imprudence, Detected. Being Observations upon a Pamphlet Intitled A New Description of Merryland. 2nd ed. [probably 1st ed.]. Bath, Eng.: Ptd. by the Author [Actually London: Edmund Curll], 1741. Two other Merryland works, probably by the same author are The Potent Alley: or, Succours from Merryland. With Three Essays in Praise of the Cloathing of That Country; and the Story of Pandora's Box. To Which is added, [Erotopolis]. The Present State of Bettyland. By Philo-Britanniae [pseud.]. 2nd ed. [Probably 1st ed.]. Paris: Ptd. by Direction of the Author [Actually London: Edmund Curll], 1741; and A Short Description of the Roads Which Lead to that Delightful country Called Merryland. To Which are subjoined, An History of the Gallantries of Bettyland. With some Carnal Recreations in Prose and Verse. London: Ptd. for E[dmund] Curll, 1743. An additional Merryland item is The History of Apprius, King of Merryland. Extracted from the Chronicle of the World, From Its Creation, Translated from a Persian Manuscript Found in the Library of Schah-Hussain, Sophi of Persia, dethroned by Mamut in 1722. By a Gentleman who served in the Persian Armies [pseud.]. 3rd ed. [Probably 1st ed.]. To Which is added, A Compleat Key .London: Ptd. by T. Hinton, 1741 (PSt). The Key translates the names given in the text, with many of them being sexual in nature. For example, Apprius equals Priapus.

Additional Publishers

Rpt. as Thomas Stretzer. Merryland. Privately Issued. New York: Robin Hood House, 1932.

Info Notes

See the description in Patrick J. Kearney, comp. The Private Case: An Annotated Bibliography of the Private Case Erotica Collection in the British (Museum) Library (London: Jay Landesman Limited, 1981), 319-320.  On this literature more generally, see Darby Lewes, "Utopian Sexual Landscapes: An Annotated Checklist of British Somatopias." Utopian Studies 7.2 (1996): 167-95.

Pseudonym

By Roger Pheuquewell [pseud.]

Holding Institutions

L, PSt

Author Note

Paul Baines and Pat Rogers, Edmund Curll, Bookseller (Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press, 2007), 291 say "we can be virtually sure that 'Stretser' was a pseudonym", although many sources give a confirmed death date of 1738.

Full Text

1741 [Stretser, Thomas] [pseud?]. A New Description of Merryland. Containing A Topographical, Geographical, and Natural History of That Country. By Roger Pheuquewell [pseud.]. 5th ed. [Probably 1st ed.]. Bath, Eng.: Ptd. for W. Jones [Actually London: Edmund Curll]. Rpt. as Thomas Stretzer. Merryland. Privately Issued. New York: Robin Hood House, 1932. Paul Baines and Pat Rogers, Edmund Curll, Bookseller (Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press, 2007), 291 say “we can be virtually sure that ‘Stretser’ was a pseudonym,” although many sources give a confirmed death date of 1738. L, PSt

A real problem. It certainly uses the utopian form, but pronouncing the surname of the pseudonym will reveal its true character, early pornography. Merryland is a woman’s body, but the presentation is as a country. The author wrote a critique of his own work--[Thomas Stretser], Merryland Displayed: or, Plagiarism, Ignorance, and Imprudence, Detected. Being Observations upon a Pamphlet Intitled A New Description of Merryland. 2nd ed. [probably 1st ed.]. Bath, Eng.: Ptd. by the Author [Actually London: Edmund Curll], 1741. Two other Merryland works, probably by the same author are The Potent Alley: or, Succours from Merryland. With Three Essays in Praise of the Cloathing of That Country; and the Story of Pandora’s Box. To Which is added, [Erotopolis]. The Present State of Bettyland. By Philo-Britanniae [pseud.]. 2nd ed. [Probably 1st ed.]. Paris: Ptd. by Direction of the Author [Actually London: Edmund Curll], 1741; and A Short Description of the Roads Which Lead to that Delightful country Called Merryland. To Which are subjoined, An History of the Gallantries of Bettyland. With some Carnal Recreations in Prose and Verse. London: Ptd. for E[dmund] Curll, 1743. See the description in Patrick J. Kearney, comp. The Private Case: An Annotated Bibliography of the Private Case Erotica Collection in the British (Museum) Library (London: Jay Landesman Limited, 1981), 319-320. An additional Merryland item is The History of Apprius, King of Merryland. Extracted from the Chronicle of the World, From Its Creation, Translated from a Persian Manuscript Found in the Library of Schah-Hussain, Sophi of Persia, dethroned by Mamut in 1722. By a Gentleman who served in the Persian Armies [pseud.]. 3rd ed. [Probably 1st ed.]. To Which is added, A Compleat Key. London: Ptd. by T. Hinton, 1741 (PSt). The Key translates the names given in the text, with many of them being sexual in nature. For example, Apprius equals Priapus. On this literature more generally, see Darby Lewes, “Utopian Sexual Landscapes: An Annotated Checklist of British Somatopias.” Utopian Studies 7.2 (1996): 167-95.