Lot 122

The first four issues of Rugged: The Male Figure in Photo with Pertinent Commentary. 1967.

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The first four issues of Rugged: The Male Figure in Photo with Pertinent Commentary. 1967.

Estimate: $400 - $600

Starting Bid: $300

(0 Bids)

by Swann Auction Galleries
August 13, 2026 10:30 AM EDT
Live Auction
104 East 25th Street
New York, NY, US 10010



The first four issues of Rugged: The Male Figure in Photo with Pertinent Commentary.

Each 32 pages, in original illustrated wrappers; minimal wear. Minneapolis, MN: DSI Sales, 1967.

Directory Services, Inc. (DSI) was a large Minneapolis publishing company which specialized in guidebooks and gay erotica. In 1967, its officers Lloyd Spinar and Conrad Germain won a federal court case which cleared the way for legal distribution of full frontal male nudity through the mail, which remains the legal standard.

These issues of Rugged do not address the court case directly, but each features anti-censorship editorials, and each closes with "The Publisher's Creed" which concludes: "Those concerned with freedom have the responsibility of seeing to it that each individual book or publication, whatever its contents, is given the freedom of expression granted to it by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America."

  • Dimensions: Each about 8 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 13.3 cm.)
  • Condition: Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

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