Adonis: The Male Physique Pin-Up 1870-1940 brings to light the pioneering work of the early male physique photographers.

Adonis traces the history and development of the genre from the classic fin-de-siecle statuesque pose of the first musclemen to the wasp-waisted boys of mid-century Hollywood. It offers differing concepts of male beauty from a time when legs were called limbs and sex was a base instinct. Here, in one volume, is the evolution of the male body beautiful - dreamy languid nudes, stunning athletes and vaudeville strongmen.