The Story of a Dildo

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 begin the search, I turned to Google’s Gemini 3 Flash. It helped identify leads, but the historical claims below were checked against library and scholarly records.

The search led to the Bibliothèque nationale de France and scholarship on clandestine Victorian print.

The Story of a Dildoe: A Tale in Five Tableaux is real. Scholarship identifies an 1880 edition, while the digitised BnF copy is a later edition privately printed in London in 1891 (Bull). The narrative is set in New York and follows Flora McPherson and her companions as they discuss and acquire the device named in the title (Anonymous).

The Archival Record

I did not want to rely on an AI summary; I wanted to see the edition itself. Gallica, the BnF’s digital library, provides page images of the 1891 edition.

Its BnF shelfmark is Enfer-151.

The BnF created the Enfer classification in the nineteenth century to control access to works then considered contrary to public morals. Its purpose has since changed: today, the classification identifies rare erotic and pornographic works preserved by the Rare Books Reserve and made available for research (BnF).

The Official Fingerprints

• Permanent ID: ark:/12148/bpt6k851127r
• Source: BnF, Rare Book Reserve, ENFER-151.
• Format: A digitised copy of the privately printed 1891 edition.

Content Warning

The linked scan contains explicit sexual descriptions, archaic and racist language, and depictions of coercive or non-consensual acts.

It is intended for adult researchers and readers. 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 1891 Edition in the Bibliothèque nationale de France

The Five Tableaux in the 1891 Edition

The 1891 edition’s contents page names five tableaux. The short descriptions below are my reading notes, not the edition’s own summaries. Its closing advertisement addresses gentlemen seeking similar books, which indicates one imagined market without proving the gender of every reader.

1. Tableau I (The Dream): Flora and her friends discuss marriage, desire, and a dream that introduces the central object.
2. Tableau II (The Purchase): The characters arrange to acquire the device.
3. Tableau III (The Dildoe): The conversation turns towards the object’s anticipated use.
4. Tableau IV (The Equipment): The text describes the device and related equipment.
5. Tableau V (The Experiment): The characters use the device amid explicit stories and scenes.

The Vision: A Modern Reimagining

As I read the 1891 edition, Gemini and I began discussing a contemporary reimagining.

Rather than claim to recover the intentions or voices of the historical text’s women, the adaptation uses its names, setting, and central object as prompts for a new story centred on interiority, friendship, and agency.

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: The characters grapple with body image, digital commodification, and the pressure to be “perfectly liberated.”
• The Afterglow: The climax is an intellectual and emotional breakthrough in which three friends realise they are finally, truly seen by each other.

Final Thoughts

Working with Gemini 3 Flash on this project reinforced the need to verify AI-generated leads against archives and scholarship. The BnF’s changing treatment of the Enfer collection also shows how institutions can move from restricting access to preserving and sharing rare erotic texts.

This adaptation does not rescue or replace The Story of a Dildoe. It responds to one historical edition by creating a distinct contemporary work with different aims and values.

The door is locked. The phones are off.

Let the experiment begin.

Update: The Pulse: Featuring the Belles of Manhattan is now live on this site. The reimagining is complete—moving from the “Enfer” archives of the past into the digital present.

Read "The Pulse: Featuring the Belles of Manhattan" (Full Story)

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.