The Story of a Dildo

A Literary Investigation with Gemini 3 Flash

It started with a title that looked like a Victorian typo: The Story of a Dildoe.

Wait—is this for real? It sounds fake, performative—the kind of thing a modern troll would invent to mess with historians. I’m a writer, and I like to think I know my genre history, but this felt like a bridge too far. Was I being naive, or was there actually an erotic novel with that title published in the 1890s?

To find out, I turned to my digital partner in crime: Google’s Gemini 3 Flash. I needed speed, I needed accuracy, and frankly, I needed someone to tell me I wasn’t crazy.

What we found together was a rabbit hole that led straight into the restricted vaults of Paris.

Gemini 3 Flash: Yes, Sloane. This is very real. “The Story of a Dildoe: A Tale in Five Tableaux” was privately printed in 1891. While many British erotica works of that era were set in London or Paris, this one is uniquely set right here in New York—Madison Square, to be exact.

The Proof: The Receipts from ‘Hell’

I didn’t just want the AI’s word for it; I wanted to see the ink. I pushed Gemini to find the “receipts,” and it delivered. Through a collaborative deep-dive into international archives, we found the definitive proof.

The smoking gun? The archival label: ENFER 151.

As Gemini explained, L’Enfer (The Hell) is the most famous restricted collection in the world, housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). It is where the “damned” books go—the ones considered too dangerous or obscene for public consumption.

The Official Fingerprints

• Permanent ID: ark:/12148/bpt6k851127r
• Source: BnF, Rare Book Reserve, ENFER-151.
• Format: 88 pages of digital ghosts.

⚠️ Content Warning (18+ / Rated R)

Before you click the link below, please be advised: This is an unedited scan of a 130-year-old piece of “clandestine” erotica. It contains extremely graphic sexual descriptions, archaic terminology, and historical themes that are highly objectionable by modern standards—specifically regarding its depictions of non-consensual acts and racial cruelty in the final chapter.

This material is intended for adult researchers and readers (18+) only. Proceed with caution.

Step Into the Vault

You can examine the physical evidence for yourself. Clicking the link below will open the Bibliothèque nationale de France viewer in a new window so you can follow along with our investigation without losing your place here.

👉 View the Original 1891 Scan in the French National Archive (New Window)

The Original “Tableaux” (1891)

The original structure, as Gemini 3 Flash and I analyzed it, consists of five “Tableaux.” In the 19th century, these were essentially stage-managed scenes designed for the “male gaze” of the underground book market:

1. Tableau I (The Dream): Flora and her friends, Laura and Maud, discuss the “abruptness” of marriage. Flora has a dream that sparks the need for an artificial solution.
2. Tableau II (The Purchase): A transaction with a worldly milliner, Madame Marcelle, who acts as the gatekeeper to the forbidden.
3. Tableau III (The Dildoe): A locked-door session involving erotic poetry to prepare their minds for the experiment.
4. Tableau IV (The Equipment): A clinical look at the India-rubber device and its harness.
5. Tableau V (The Experiment): A sharp turn into dark historical anecdotes before concluding in a scripted “wild orgie.”

The Vision: A Modern Psychological Rescue

As I scrolled through those 130-year-old pages, Gemini and I started talking about a “rescue mission.”

The 1891 version was written for men who wanted to peek through a keyhole. We want to write it for the women who are actually inside the room. Our goal is to move the story from the “Enfer” archives into Modern Literary Fiction.

We are keeping the names. We are keeping the New York setting. But we are changing the heart of the story.

Our 21st-Century Reimagining

• From Physical to Psychological: We are replacing graphic anatomy with internal lives. Why are these women so tired of the modern dating noise? What happens when the phones go off?
• The Sanctuary: The boudoir isn’t a stage for an orgy anymore; it’s a fortress against digital burnout.
• Agency vs. Substitute: Flora doesn’t buy a “substitute” for a man. She buys an elegant, hand-held device—a deliberate choice of self-sufficiency. It’s not about “simulating a man”; it’s about “exploring a woman.”
• The Modern Ghosts: Instead of the original’s dark Southern stories, our characters will grapple with modern ghosts—body image, digital commodification, and the pressure to be “perfectly liberated.”
• The Afterglow: Our climax isn’t physical. It’s the intellectual and emotional breakthrough that happens when three friends realized they are finally, truly seen by each other.

Final Thoughts

Working with Gemini 3 Flash on this project has been an eye-opener. It reminded me that history isn’t just a list of dates; it’s a collection of voices—some of which were silenced and locked away in “Hell.”

By reclaiming The Story of a Dildo, we aren’t just writing an erotic novel. We are bridging a century-long gap, taking a torch from the Flora of 1891 and handing it to the Flora of today.

The door is locked. The phones are off.

Let the experiment begin.

✨

Update: The Pulse: Featuring the Belles of Manhattan is complete and waiting for you on the download page. The torch has been passed—your turn to carry it.

Sloane Shay Monroe

I don’t write to idealize love, but to explore it honestly, with emotional precision and depth.

This article was developed through an iterative collaboration between our writers and multiple AI language models. Various LLMs contributed at different stages—from initial ideation and drafting to refinement and technical review. Each AI served as a creative and analytical partner, while human editors maintained final oversight, ensuring accuracy and quality.