''Eros'' was an American quarterly political and literary magazine that published only four volumes in 1962. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described ''Eros'' as a “stunningly designed hardcover ‘magbook’,” covering “a wide swath of sexuality in history, politics, art and literature.” The magazine was the first product of

Ralph Ginzburg Ralph Ginzburg (October 28, 1929 – July 6, 2006) was an American editor, publisher, journalist, and photographer. He was best known for publishing books and magazines on erotica and art and for his conviction in 1963 for violating federal obsc ...

and

Herb Lubalin Herbert F. Lubalin (; March 17, 1918 – May 24, 1981) was an American graphic designer. He collaborated with Ralph Ginzburg on three of Ginzburg's magazines: ''Eros'', ''Fact'', and ''Avant Garde''. Biography Herb Lubalin was born March 17 ...

who later created two other influential magazines, namely ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' and ''

Avant Garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

''.

History and profile

The first issue of the magazine appeared in Spring 1962.

was the editor and

was the art director of ''Eros'' which came out quarterly. The focus of the magazine was on love and sex during the dawning of the

Sexual Revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the late 1950s to the early 1 ...

. It also covered articles on politics, arts and literature. The third (Autumn, 1962) of a total of 4 issues of the magazine published featured the photographs of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

just before her death which caused an obscenity lawsuit against Ginzburg by then

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

Robert Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

. The magazine sold nearly 150,000 copies of this issue. The reason for the lawsuit was the claim that the magazine had violated federal anti-obscenity laws. Ginzburg was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, but he remained in prison for eight months. Following this incident the magazine was closed down. In 2017 Mindy Seu created a website which contains the digital copies of ''Eros''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eros Defunct political magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1962 Magazines disestablished in 1962 Defunct magazines published in New York City Quarterly magazines published in the United States Defunct literary magazines published in the United States