Transvestia

prior to his death. It was published 11 years later and again in 1742, as "Memoirs of Countess de Berres". A scholarly version appeared in 1870, and this was transcribed and adapted into English, for the first time, in a 1958 Paris edition from which this volume is reproduced.

Dr. Woodward apologizes for the quality of Walker's work, and rightly. Not only is the result loaded with lower-class British slang and "unfunny jokes", but the crude, coarse language used tends to antagonize the reader. Nevertheless, it is our first glimpse into the private life (as contrasted to bio- graphies) of the world's second most famous TV. We can only hope that some more conscientious translator will do the job over, and include the two-thirds of the material which Walker left out.

From the first four chapters, one would not guess that Choisy is a TV, as he mostly appears nude in the bedrooms of three different girls. He does femme-dress in chaper 5, but only to allay public suspicion during visits to Girl #4. Back to bare with #5 and #6, but he had to resort to full dress to get near #7, a Lesbian. She was nearly his un- doing, as her jealousy of #4 led her to denounce him and he had to leave his four mistresses in a hurry! And so to #8, who helped him to seduce #9 - a virgin so innocent she still thought him a woman until her mother caught on. #8 was also helpful in diverting another heterosexual male intent on seducing "Mrs. de Sancy" (his alternate femme-name). And so to #10, 11 and 12; the last wore him down to near collapse, and this led to his joining the clergy. His title had been purely secular, but for the next 50 years he became a pillar of the church and wrote many pious books; apparently he never dressed again.

On the basis of the evidence presented here, dressing meant little to Choisy except as an exped- ient means to an end. For that reason, and because of the repulsive language used, this book may be a disappointment to you but what's $1.25 these days?

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