# 42855

TOWNSEND, Larry (1930 - 2008, pseudonym of Bud Bernhardt)

The Leatherman’s Handbook

$750.00 AUD

New York : Olympia Press, 1972. Octavo, paperback, original wrappers, light rubbing to corners, crease to spine with crack in text block, pp. [viii]; 319; [7 – advertisements], internally clean, a very good to fine copy.

‘The only definitive exploration of the gay S & M leather scene over written by a qualified writer who has observed it all from the inside’ – the back cover.

The rare first edition of what is considered the ‘bible’ of leather S&M subculture, first printed in 1972 with reprints in 1974, 1976 and a 25th anniversary edition in 1997. Printed cheaply in paperback format, the black covers are easily rubbed, this is a superior example. Regrettably, a leather bound edition was not published. The archives of Larry Townsend (pseudonym for Bud Bernhardt) are housed at Yale University.

‘Larry Townsend (pseudonym for Bernhardt) was born on October 27, 1930. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1950-1954. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1957, and pursued graduate study at the State University of California, Los Angeles. He became involved in the leather community of Los Angeles in the early 1960s and became an activist in the late 1960s, serving as the president of the “Homophile Effort for Legal Protection” in 1972. As a novelist, photographer, and publisher, he both chronicled and shaped the gay leather community from the late 1960s to 2008, the year of his death. He authored many books and articles on leather and sadomasochism, including The Leatherman’s Handbook, published in 1971. Additionally, he published his own work, as well as that of others, through his publishing house, L. T. Publications. Many of his works have been reprinted by other publishers. Townsend died on July 29, 2008.’ – https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/5189