Are old Eros Magazines worth anything?

Eros Magazine volume 1 number 1 hit the stands in early 1962, and the U.S. government, apparently, was not ready for it. Accompanying the magazine was a newletter and a book. Eros is so tame by modern standards that it is hard to believe that less than 50 years ago the publisher was jailed for the act of publishing it. It was a high quality, hardcover magazine, with some serious discussion as well as a few nicely done photographs, including, in issue #3, the last studio portrait of Marilyn Monroe.

Eros lasted only four issues, despite its overwhelming success with the public. Ralph Ginzburg and other members of the Eros team were hounded through the courts, all the way to the top. In 1966, the Supreme Court upheld Ginzburg's conviction on  obscenity charges as well as his five-year prison sentence. Despite its short life, Eros was the beginning of a new type of thought about sex in the U.S. Barney Rossett and Grove Press had begun to reprint the Olympia Press titles of Henry Miller and Pauline Reage, Hugh Hefner's Playboy was hitting new heights and the film I am Curious (Yellow) was driving the last nail into the coffin of the Hayes Office. The government was playing the role of the old lady, trying to sweep back the sea. Unfortunately for Ginzburg, he was the broom.

Eros is collected both as a significant piece of art and literature as well as a cornerstone of collections of banned and censored material.  A complete set of four issues in extremely fine condition will sell for around $100.

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