Books like The Erotic Arts by Peter Webb

Robert Greene’s The Art of Seduction examines the subtle psychology of attraction, outlining classic techniques and timeless profiles of seductive figures.

Taking Positions is an exploration of the place of the erotic in Renaissance art and culture, focusing on a notorious set of images created by the young Italian master Giulio Romano. In the early 1520s, Giulio made sixteen drawings of couples in various sexual positions. Known as I modi (the positions), the drawings were first circulated privately and then made into engravings that were distributed publicly. Only then did authorities begin to consider I modi obscene and threatening, going so far as to jail the engraver. Modeled in part on classical sources, Giulio's drawings themselves became a model for erotica throughout the sixteenth century, first legitimized with a cover of ancient mythology, then later transformed into strange anatomical figures of the female body. The book is generously illustrated and includes full translations of the infamous sonnets that Pietro Aretino wrote to accompany I modi. Exploring such issues as censorship, religious teachings about sex, and the influence of antique culture, Taking Positions is a major contribution to our understanding of the erotic in Renaissance culture.

"The art of Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991), famous throughout the world as Tom of Finland, has had an impact upon the culture at large. In this study, Micha Ramakers explores the work and its effect. Illustrated with more than eighty drawings and photographs, Dirty Pictures is lively and entertaining. It encompasses the rise of the gay movement, the world of fine art, the function and functioning of pornography, and the impact of the artist known as Tom of Finland."--BOOK JACKET.