Regarding your article (Depraved by Daisy Dixon review – a history of dark and dangerous art, 1 July), in the early 70s, for PhD research on the French surrealist poet Paul Éluard, I requested to see Robert Benayoun’s book Erotique de Surréalisme in the Reading Room of the library at the British Museum.
I was delivered a card with the word: “FIE!” printed on it, and asked to go to the service desk. From there I was taken to a small adjacent room where an elderly, male employee brought me the book, then sat at a raised desk to “supervise” me as I read it.
I survived the reading, illuminated, and remain rather fond of the now sadly neglected but perhaps, in today’s world, much needed word “Fie!”
Jill Lewis
Norwich
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