[11] Mary refers here to the dangers which faced earlier authors of erotic nature, such as L’Ecole des Filles (Girls’ School) – which was written in 1660 by Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV’s mistress, and Nicholas Fouquet, his finance minister, using the names (and persons) of Michel Millot and Jean L’Ange.
The book is a conversation about sex between Fanny, a sixteen year old girl and her slightly older cousin, Suzanne.
The successful publication of L’Ecole des Filles resulted in a court-case and a short imprisonment of the two ‘front guys.’ The real authors couldn’t save them from prison, but did save them from hanging.
We can assume that Madame de Maintenon wrote her little book to amuse and arouse her lover, Louis XIV, while Nicholas Fouquet did it to enrich Louis XIV’s treasury. I guess they were both successful.