The Sins of the Cities of the Plain

The Sins of the Cities of the Plain; or, The Recollections of a Mary-Ann, with Short Essays on Sodomy and Tribadism, by the pseudonymous "Jack Saul", is one of the first exclusively homosexual works of pornographic literature published in English. It has been suggested that it was largely written by James Campbell Reddie and the painter Simeon Solomon, who had been convicted of public indecency in 1873 and disgraced. Reddie died several years before its publication, and was ill with poor eyesight prior to that, which makes his connection less likely. The book was first published in 1881 by William Lazenby, who printed 250 copies. A second edition was published by Leonard Smithers in 1902. It sold for an expensive four guineas.

The Sins of the Cities of the Plain purports to be the memoirs of Jack Saul, a young rentboy or "Mary-Ann". In the book Saul is picked up on the street by a Mr. Cambon. After they have dinner, Chambon invites Saul to recount his life story.

While some have accepted it as a genuine account, it is more likely to be an early form of the non-fiction novel.

John Saul was an actual male prostitute of Irish birth, known as 'Dublin Jack', who was involved in a homosexual scandal at Dublin castle in 1884, and later in the Cleveland Street scandal. The book is clearly inspired by him, and it is possible he shared his experiences with the anonymous author/s. Factual details suggest the book could be based on an authentic rentboy's account, but one that has been elaborated.There are consistencies with the real life Saul, but also discrepancies: he was of Irish birth, but in the book he is English.

The 'Mr Chambon' in the book lives "in the Cornwall Mansions close to Baker Street Station". William Simpson Potter, a friend of William Lazenby the publisher, did live at Cornwall Residences, a now-demolished block of nondescript Victorian flats near the Station, from about 1877 until his death in 1889. Potter was the 'compiler' of another anonymous piece of the erotica A Letter from the East (1877) as well as Letters from India during HRH the Prince of Wales' Visit in 1875/6 (1876) Mr Chambon could be based on Potter, who was also a friend of Henry Spencer Ashbee, and may have known Saul.