She Who Strays
New York: Beacon Signal, 1963. 1st Edition. 12mo, publisher’s stiff illustrated paper wraps, all edges stained yellow.
Early 1960s lesbian pulp tracing the lonely Marcia Webster’s descent into illicit love, authored by British born sleaze writer Keith Ayling under his most commonly used pseudonym. While many lesbian pulp novels of the 1950s and 60s were sensationalized by and for straight men, they inadvertently offered representation for closeted lesbian readers. Beacon Signal, an imprint of Universal Publishing, was one of the earliest exclusively sleaze paperback publishers, established when there was high demand for disposable thrills in the wake of the 1954 Gathings Committee's critique of lurid cover art in mainstream paperback houses (Pocketbooks, Popular Library, Avon, and Bantam). Cover illustration by prolific commercial artist Ernest "Darcy"Chiriacka. Publisher's catalog number B602F. Fine. Item #12364
$75.00