Prostitution and The Law

London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1951. First Edition. Octavo. 22cm. Publisher's dark blue cloth titled in gilt to spine. Dustjacket. 160pp. Very light wear to extremities and spine ends, in a clean, strong orange card dustjacket with some light marginal soiling and discoloration. A very good, smart copy. Internally clean with some offsetting to the pastedowns and some pale spotting to the page edges and prelims. A very detailed and informed analysis of the "issues" of prostitution and how it is understood and interpreted by the law, with the suggestion that a strictly and solely legal framework is not always the best way in which to address the industry. The author, a practising London barrister at the time, also strives to take into account the social status of women, married and unmarried, the responsibility for financial support, and the penalties faced by the male components of prostitution; the client and the pimp, with the suggestion that the punishments levied are perhaps disproportionately weighted towards punishing women. The central message is still very much one maintaining that sex work is the preserve of the fallen or unfortunate woman, but that certainly reflects the attitudes of the legal system in the 1950's and earlier.