The Romance of Lust

The Romance of Lust is a notorious Victorian erotic novel published anonymously between 1873 and 1876 in four volumes by London pornographer William Lazenby. Narrated by Charlie Roberts, it chronicles his explicit sexual initiations from adolescence, involving taboo acts like incest with sisters, orgies, flagellation, and same-sex encounters.

Scholars attribute it to either William Simpson Potter or Edward Sellon, based on stylistic links to their other works. Henry Spencer Ashbee cataloged it in his erotic bibliographies, noting its mechanical "pornotopia" style.

Condemned for obscenity and frequently censored, it influenced Victorian erotica and was first uncensored in a 1968 Grove Press edition. Today, it's recognized as a public domain classic exploring repressed desires.