"Christie's in Paris is the sort of place where even Louis XVI would have felt underdressed. The glacial young women behind the desk, whose matching uniforms make them look like two of the early Supremes, are faultlessly coiffeured, sublimely correct. The austere neo-Classical architecture and wood panelling exude the very strong impression that vulgarity - let alone hanky-panky - will not be tolerated."

"Yet this aesthetic holy of holies is currently housing a collection of what the sale room likes to call "historical erotica" but is basically the biggest collection of very naughty books in private ownership. They are to be auctioned next week in what is the first sale of its kind for Christie's and nerves are a little frayed at the stately auction house which is anxious not to develop a reputation for peddling smut."

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