Eros, Volume One Number Three, Autumn 1962

Eros Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 3 is a legendary artifact of the Sexual Revolution and a landmark piece of American editorial design. Edited and published by the radical journalist Ralph Ginzburg, this high-concept, casebound quarterly “magbook” was engineered to push the boundaries of mid-century censorship.

This specific issue remains the most highly sought-after and culturally explosive volume in the magazine’s short, four-issue run. Six weeks before her tragic passing, Marilyn Monroe sat for photographer Bert Stern. This volume famously features those final studio portraits across a stunning, intimate 18-page photo spread. The raw, breathtaking portfolio includes Monroe’s own hand-scratched marks directly onto the film, serving as an irreplaceable time capsule of an American icon.

Design & Typography

• Herb Lubalin Art Direction: Features the revolutionary typography and tight image-text integration that defined Lubalin’s legendary graphic design career.
• Hardcover Format: Bound in clean, white pictorial boards featuring a close-up photograph of Marilyn Monroe rather than a traditional soft magazine cover.
• Large Folio Scale: Designed as a premium coffee-table artifact measuring approximately 10″ x 13″.

Content Highlights

• The Last Sitting: The iconic 18-page layout of Marilyn Monroe’s final studio portraits.
• Literary Curiosa: Includes an excerpt from John Cleland’s controversial Fanny Hill, alongside pieces by Dan Greenburg, David Bar-Illan, and fitness pioneer Bonnie Prudden.
• Historic Banned Media: This very issue provoked an obscenity lawsuit from U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, ultimately leading to Ginzburg’s infamous Supreme Court conviction and imprisonment.

A must-have for serious collectors of mid-century photography, counterculture literature, and graphic design history.

Note to customers: This is a vintage, first-edition item from 1962 in fine condition as pictured with light amount shelf wear to the pictorial boards. [4.4]

$ 75.00