This is a rare vintage FACTORY SEALED / UNREAD and out of print copy of COLT 40 by JIM FRENCH and published and distributed by Colt Studio Group in 2006 featuring the nude male photography of photographer COLT STUDIO FOUNDER JIM FRENCH. This 220 page HARDCOVER book and DUST JACKET measures 9.75 x 0.75 x 10.75 inches. See photos for condition.

For forty years the COLT Group has set the standard for male erotic photography. Everyone in this business owes a huge debt of gratitude to Jim French. In 1967 he began doing illustrations and then switched to photography that got the attention of many of us. Even though most of us knew no one personally who looked like Mr. French's perfect men, we believed it was possible that somewhere these men actually lived and breathed, and then there was always some friend who alleged that he had worked out in a California gym where one of these gods also pumped up, assuring us that they were just like the rest of us mortals.

Included in this volume are over 150 photographs of models going back to the beginning of COLT. I recognized Bruno and Stoner-- somewhere I have an entire book of photographs of him from the 1970's. The photography is of course of the high standard we expect from COLT, beautifully lit, impeccably composed and printed on good paper. Many of the models are buck naked in all their erect glory; and if you work your way up the photographs you'll discover that they have strikingly handsome faces as well.

Some of my favorites-- the pages are not numbered, one of my two complaints about this book; the other is that there is only one black model in the entire collection-- are as follows: the late Al Parker, looking very young and unbuffed; Adam Hammer for the incredible lighting; Billy Herrington (the photo on the right page for the composition); Carlos Morales, for the whole body shot; Jake Tanner for the beautiful side lighting from the window; Mike Dasher (photo on the right side) and Dean Phoenix, two of the rare shots highlighting the models' faces; and finally Tom Chase. No explanation is necessary. Just look at the photo. The shot of Mark Rutter is intriguing in it appears that the photographer either copied Mapplethorpe's notorious "Man in the Polyster Suit" or Mapplethorpe stole his idea from this photo.

Male erotic photography doesn't get better than COLT 40.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jim French [James Thomas French] (July 14, 1932 – June 16, 2017) was an American artist, illustrator, photographer, filmmaker, and publisher. He is best known for his association with Colt Studio which he, using the pseudonym Rip Colt, (and with business partner Lou Thomas) created in 1966. Thomas parted from the endeavor in 1974 leaving French to continue to build what would become one the most successful gay male erotica companies in the U.S.

Moving to New York in the late 1950s, French used his visual gift to find work as a fashion illustrator. “This was, of course, during the era of the Lavender Scare, when the U.S. Postal Service worked with law enforcement to seize any materials they deemed obscene.” Like Bob Mizer, who always had to fly under the radar of the authorities, Jim French and his business partner knew they were taking a great risk in not just taking these photos of young muscular men, but in disseminating them through the mail, too.” In mid-1966 Thomas & French formed a partnership to start a mail order company named "The Lüger Studio." "Kurt Lüger" became the pseudonym for French. The name was chosen for its implied association with the German Luger pistol.

French’s earliest drawings, done under the pseudonym of “Arion,” depicted playful sketches & erotic romps through Fire Island and similar scenes were influenced by two of his favorite artists, George Petty and Alberto Vargas. The drawings created as "Lüger" featured more hypermasculine subjects: construction men, bikers, men in leather, surfers, cowboys, wrestlers, sailors and Centurions, just to name a few. They were more reminiscent of macho, masculine figures one might find in the works of Mizer and fellow illustrator George Quaintance. French was careful not to depict nudity in his Luger images, keeping in line with obscenity laws of the late 1950s and early ‘60s, but they included the same eroticism, camp and playful tone that one would find in Mizer’s own photos and films.

The first appearance of a Lüger Studio drawing (two drawings from his "Cowboy" series) was in the May-June 1966 issue of The Young Physique. Photographic copies of the drawing sets were offered for purchase through mail order and were advertised in various magazines available at the time: The Young Physique, Mars, Muscleboy, Sir Gee, Male Classics, and Fizeek Art Quarterly. These copies were offered as thematic sets of either six or eight drawings. Lüger Studios also produced four different photographic sets of various male models.

To avoid legal troubles, Lüger Studio offerings contained minimal frontal nudity but were nonetheless erotic and humorously creative in their suggestiveness. French's artwork was favorably received and was commended for its "unbridled imagination and a fantastic technique."

French left a legacy of homoerotic images in artwork, illustrations, photo sets, slides, film, fine-art photographs, magazines, books and calendars that presented his work exclusively and set a new standard in photography of men.

Due to recent delivery issues with the USPS I now ship all items via Priority Mail. $100 of insurance is included in this price. I’m selling my collection of vintage 1960-1980s gay pulp paperback novels, pictorial & hardcore magazines, physique photography, magazines & artwork.