Acolyte Press

The Acolyte Press (c1984-1996) was an Amsterdam based publishing house specializing in boylove fiction and erotica. It was founded and operated by editor Frank Torey (1928-1996) who had previously worked in a similar venture named Coltsfoot Press.

History

The Acolyte Press was established in Amsterdam in the mid-1980s after Coltsfoot Press (then a division of Spartacus) went bankrupt. Frank Torey who has been working as a general editor for Coltsfoot Press/Spartacus re-employed most of the Coltsfoot authors.

The publishing house operated for a decade and had a considerable output due to the personal care of its owner and editor. Frank Torey successfully reached the market of boylovers by advertisements and reviews in boylove and mainstream gay (but boylove-friendly) periodicals.

The distribution of books was not always problem-free however. Several books were stopped at customs or banned from being distributed (e. g. Ireland, Canada, New Zealand) as publications promoting the abuse and exploitation of children. Nonetheless, in some cases when the claims were brought to a court, the verdict was that the material was legal. In New Zealand, for example, the Court of Appeal stated that:

"There must be something about the way the prohibited activity is described, depicted or otherwise dealt with, which can fairly be said to have the effect of promoting or supporting that activity." Moonen v. Film and Literature Board of Review [1999] NZCA 329 (Court of Appeal), para. 29.

The court supported the claim that the attempt to prohibit the circulation of an Acolyte Reader was an act of censorship against free speech and freedom of expression, whereas the accusant failed to prove how the publications in question specifically would promote the abuse and exploitation of children.

Despite these problems, the Acolyte Press continued publishing books until Frank Torey's death in June 1996. Essentially operating as a one-man venture, the business was liquidated after the owner's death.

Publishing Output

The Acolyte Press published no less than 38 books (a near complete list with ISBN numbers is given below). All of the published books are small paperbacks (18 cm), most numbering around 200 pages. The books featured covers of color paintings of boys.

Most of the published books were novels that centred on a pederastic relationship between a man and a boy or between two boys of different ages, while others had a plot which boylovers would find interesting.

The Acolyte Reader series were collections of short stories which were often more explicit, if not downright erotic. Bob Henderson, Alan Edwards, I.L. Igngels, Kevin Esser, Jared Bunda, Jef Last, Daniel Mallory, Leonard Taft, Edward Bangor, Luis Fuentes (aka Miguelito de Argentina), Graham Day, Hakim Bey (pseud. of Peter Lamborn Wilson) and Robert Campbell (pseud. of Robert Wren), Jotham Lotring (pseud. of Frank Torey), Mark Derby and others, contributed their short stories. Most of the authors in Acolyte readers used pen-names due to the often-explicit nature of the stories.

Apart from fiction, the Acolyte Press also published a handful of books based on the personal experiences of the authors.

Availability

Today it is possible to find second hand copies of Acolyte's catalog in online or gay bookstores that do not care much about being "politically correct". Some titles are easier to find than others and someone should expect to pay quite inflated prices for the rare ones, considering that they are only small paperbacks of almost pulp fiction quality. Easier-to-find titles are usually sold in the $20-30 price range. As always, some gay and lesbian libraries and archives may hold some of the titles.

Acolyte Press (near complete) Catalog

• 1985 | Hard-core murder / Bob Henderson | ISBN: 90-6971-001-3
• 1986 | Growing old disgracefully / Casimir Dukahz | ISBN: 90-6971-003-X
• 1988 | Dance of the warriors / Kevin Esser | ISBN: 90-6971-010-2
• 1988 | Le pedalopitheque / Jacques de Brethmas | ISBN: 90-6971-014-5
• 1989 | Singularities, Vol. 1 / Robert Campbell | ISBN: 90-6971-017-X
• 1989 | Singularities, Vol. 2 / Robert Campbell
• 1989 | Kim, my beloved / Jens Eisenhardt ; transl. Stephen W. Foster | ISBN: 90-6971-022-6
• 1991 | Shakespear's boy / Casimir Dukahz | ISBN: 90-6971-032-3
• 1991 | Lucky lips / Rob Elan | ISBN: 90-6971-033-1
• 1992 | The well-tempered schoolboy / Jared Bunda | ISBN: 90-6971-041-2
• 1993 | Something like happiness / Kevin Esser | ISBN: 90-6971-046-3
• 1993 | Strange catharsis / Daniel Mallory | ISBN: 90-6971-049-8
• 1993 | The fire-worshipper / Alan Edward | ISBN: 90-6971-050-1
• 1994 | Explosion / I.L. Ingles | ISBN: 90-6971-051-X
• 1994 | A natural lizard activity: a novel / B.F. Freedman | ISBN: 90-6971-053-6
• 1995 | Dans van de krijgers / Kevin Esser ; transl. Alex Mouzier | ISBN: 90-6971-055-2
• 1995 | Operation Jock: a novel / C.R. LaBarge | ISBN: 90-6971-058-7
• 1995 | Absolute power / Mario Kochany

True life experiences series

• 1987 | Pulling it off: masturbation practices of 191 Mid-Western American boys / Joseph Winchester | ISBN: 90-6971-009-9
• 1989 | Getting it on: rites of passage : homosexual histories of six heterosexual American boys / Joseph Winchester | ISBN: 90-6971-021-8
• 1991 | Pulling it off: masturbation practices of 191 Mid-Western American boys, 2nd enlarged ed. / Joseph Winchester | ISBN: 90-6971-031-5
• 1992 | It's okay to say yes : close encounters in the third world: the adventures and misadventures of a well-traveled boylover / J. Darling, ed. by Frank Torey | ISBN: 90-6971-035-8
• 1993 | The paggers papers / Richard Rawson ; with an introd. by J.M. Cameron | ISBN: 90-6971-047-1

BL classics

• 1987 | Iberian boyhood and the emergency beard / John Bishop | ISBN: 90-6971-007-2
• 1988 | St. Matthews passion, or, The schoolboy's dilemma / Jared Bunda | ISBN: 90-6971-013-7
• 1989 | Solos, duets & improvisations / Wallington Fuger | ISBN: 90-6971-019-6
• 1992 | Adam and the paradise garden / Peter Gilbert & Tom Holt | ISBN: 90-6971-043-9
• 1993 | As schoolboys from their books / Mario Kochany | ISBN: 90-6971-036-6
• 1994 | A boy's sweet sorrow and satisfaction / by Peter Gilbert & Tom Holt | ISBN: 90-6971-052-8

Acolyte readers

• 1986 | The first Acolyte reader / Kevin Esser et al.| ISBN: 90-6971-004-8
• 1987 | The second Acolyte reader / Kevin Esser et al. | ISBN: 90-6971-006-4
• 1988 | The third Acolyte reader / Leonard Taft et al. | ISBN: 90-6971-016-1
• 1990 | The fourth Acolyte reader / Kevin Esser et al. | ISBN: 90-6971-023-4
• 1991 | The fifth Acolyte reader / Jef Last et al. | ISBN: 90-6971-030-7
• 1991 | The sixth Acolyte reader / Daniel Mallory et al. | ISBN: 90-6971-034-X
• 1992 | The seventh Acolyte reader /
• 1992 | The eighth Acolyte reader / ed. Frank Torey | ISBN: 90-6971-044-7
• 1993 | The ninth Acolyte reader / ed. Frank Torey | ISBN: 90-6971-048-X
• 1994 | The tenth Acolyte reader / ed. Frank Torey | ISBN: 90-6971-054-4
• 1995 | The eleventh Acolyte reader / ed. Frank Torey | ISBN: 90-6971-057-9
• 1996 | The twelfth Acolyte reader /

External Links

• Edward Bangor, "For those about to..." a story from The Eight Acolyte Reader.
• "Acolyte Press" (Original BoyWiki Article)