If there's one tried-and-true constant in marketing, it's that sex sells. The long-standing truth is exposed at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library exhibit entitled Golden Cockerel's Polite Erotica: A Legacy of Endurance and Distinction.

The collection consists of 60 books published by the Golden Cockerel Press, considered one of the great British private presses to contribute to the fine press movement. The press' popularity, however, was not so much derived from the words contained on the pages of the masterpieces it reproduced, but rather in the revealing images.

"What this press did to distinguish itself and to make its works more appealing to serious book collectors was to introduce an element of erotica, which was reflected in many of the wood engravings they did to illuminate their books," said Robert Desmarais, assistant special collections librarian with the special collections library. "There were other private presses, but to distinguish themselves, this was deemed a rather collectible quality. Nobody else was doing this and they were doing so well with it."

By today's standards, the images are tame, but for the time, Desmarais said, the Golden Cockerel Press was taking a real risk.

"In many cases, there isn't even exposed upper bodies," said Desmarais. "That wouldn't even raise an eyebrow today, but back then this was very avant guarde. In the 1920s and 1930s, if you had a book with mild erotica in it, you were in serious risk of being shut down and prosecuted for obscenity."

However, beyond the curiosity of the polite erotica, what really makes this a beautiful exhibit is the craftsmanship.

"Imagine, this was really a golden age of wood engraving in the 1930s," he said of the painstaking, hand-wrought, book making process that saw artists engrave images on box wood before it was imprinted on dampened, hand-made paper. "As a private press they wanted to introduce fine publishing. They wanted books printed in limited editions. They wanted books with letterpress printing where you had moveable-type printing on hand-made paper with decal edges, that ragged edge. They wanted exquisite binding. They were not trade publications; they were for book collectors."

The exhibit continues until Jan. 14 at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library, in the basement of the Rutherford Library.