INTRODUCING THE MARQUIS DE SADE WILL

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For an author who needs little introduction, the Marquis de Sadehasin fact been introduced a great deal.Gilbert Lely’s 1967 edition of Les 120 Journées deSodome,for example, contains no fewer than five prefaces, including essays sexological, psychoanalytical and philosophical in scope. This article explores the ways in which editions of Sade’s works have presented and packaged the so-called divin marquis and his oeuvre, from the early, privately circulated editions of the 1880s to the most recent paperbacks. In each case the process of introduction proves to be simultaneously one of appropriation, as Sade is transformed time and again into a figure with more than a passing resemblance to the editor or critic presenting him. Through such appropriations Sade becomes by turns bibliophile, sexologist, surrealist, philosopher and, finally, canonical author. As well as examining the editorial matter of various introductions, this article also explores the dubious seductions practised by the cover art of recent Sade editions.