Art Follows Nature: A
Worldwide
History of the Nude.
Berkeley: Edition One Books, 2016.
572 p. hardbound
signed and numbered edition of 500. $70.00 includes postage.
More than twenty
years in the making, these chapters have appeared as a regular column
in Naturally
magazine.
Some faithful readers have called the author one of the greatest art
historians living today. This is the first history of the nude
from a nudist perspective. It is the first in full color.
And it is the first to include the whole world; it is especially
remarkable for its strong coverage of India and other non-Western
civilizations. Look at the illustrated table of contents, and read sample pages.
Art books are expensive; so is this one. But think of it this
way: At 572 pages with more than 700 full-color illustrations, you are
getting 10 beautiful nude pictures for a dollar. Where else can
you find a bargain like this? The book comes in a hardbound
signed and numbered limited edition of only 500 copies. So order
yours quickly. Order form
You can also listen to a 40-minute interview
with a reviewer.
Here are the back cover blurbs:
TWENTY YEARS IN THE MAKING
For more than two decades, Paul LeValley delighted readers of Naturally
magazine with his series on the nude in art history—the
longest-running column in the history of the American naturist
press. Now, for the first time, they are all gathered together,
with many additional artworks added.
SCHOLARLY YET FASCINATING
Thoroughly researched, the pages bristle with fresh examples and lively
commentary.
NO OTHER BOOK LIKE IT
Only a few great books have been written on the nude in art. This
is the first comprehensive one in color—more than 700
illustrations. And this is the first book on the topic written
from a naturist perspective.
THOROUGHLY ORIGINAL
Paul LeValley thinks for himself. Not only does he introduce us
to lots of beautiful yet unfamiliar artworks, but he also explains how
they fit into the world and time in which they were created.
These works still resonate today.
THE WHOLE WORLD IS INCLUDED
Learn about the art and culture of Egypt, India, China, Greece, the
Middle East, American Indians, and Africa—plus every period in
the Western tradition, from Medieval to present.
A LEARNED GUIDE
Paul LeValley, Ph.D. has taught Art History (mostly India) at Florida
State University, as well as interdisciplinary Humanities at Florida A
& M University and Saginaw Valley State University in
Michigan. He has traveled in more than 60 countries, and seen
many of the artworks up close.
Seekers
of the Naked Truth: Collected Writings on the Gymnosophists and Related
Shramana Religions.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2018. 478 p. hardbound,
FULL-SIZE edition. 68 black-and-white illustrations. $60
includes postage.
In 326 BCE, Alexander the Great met in
India a group of naked philosophers whom
he called Gymnosophists. Though the group went extinct
shortly after
that, European (and middle-eastern) thinkers kept writing fabulous
tales about these
naked ascetics for the next two thousand years. All of the
basic sources are gathered here--as well as essays on the topic that
the author has
published over the years in hard-to-find scholarly journals scattered
across four
continents. For the table of contents, click here.
As the only book on this important topic, this is a book that serious
college libraries must have. Some individuals will want their own
copy.
Be aware that the first edition was published in two sizes. You
can buy the miniaturized version on Amazon for less money, but the fine
print is difficult to read. Here you get the full-size 8.5 x 11"
version.
Here are the back cover blurbs:
Naked philosophers
from exotic India,
Alexander the Great,
Lots of atheistic religions,
Mind-opening logic,
Plagiarizing saints,
Pious medieval frauds:
They're all here in the world's first collection of
documents on the ancient Gymnosophists.
This book fills an important gap in the bookshelves of
nudists, as well as students of Indian religion, Greek history,
philosophy, and medieval literature.
Naturist Writings of Paul LeValley, Including Movie Reviews. Collierville, TN: InstantPublisher, 2022. 384 p. hardbound. $50 includes postage.
From the back cover:
● Reviews of more than 250 movies with non-sexual nudity (usually
harmless skinny-dips). Many of these films are fine for the whole
family, others appropriate for teens and older.
● Illustrated articles about nude art on everything from coins to bookplates—by the leading authority on the subject.
● Thoughtful essays on topics ranging from social class to the
widespread practice of nude swimming for boys in American high schools.
● A keynote address (delivered while nude) on fundamentalists and naturists—how much they surprisingly have in common.
● A handbook to educate politicians about the popularity of skinny-dipping.
● Boy Scouts singing around the campfire and flipping each other off the monkey bridge into the water.
● Lots of documents about nudist youth camps.
● Visionary plans for a clothing-optional college.
● Juvenile fiction filled with facts about living in ancient Greece, or a teenage fantasy about surviving on a cannibal island.
● It's all here in this collection of writings over the years—mostly from hard-to-find nudist magazines.
In His Own Image Created He Them: Nude Illustrations of Bible Stories.
Collierville, TN: Instant Publisher, 2024. 114 page 11" x 17"
hardbound coffee table book with spiral binding to lie flat when
open. Signed limited edition of 100. $50 includes postage.
See more than 180 gorgeous large drawings,
paintings, sculptures, and stained glass windows of nude Bible
scenes. Old Testament figures include Adam and Eve, Ishmael and
Isaac, Moses, Samson and Delilah, David, the Queen of Sheba, Isaiah,
Daniel, Jonah, and many others. Apocryphal heroines such as
Susannah and Judith are included. In the New Testament, we see
Jesus, John the Baptist, Salome, naked fishermen, Mary
Magdalene—even Paul as a nude athlete.
The first half presents never-before-seen drawings
done in the 1950s and '60s in the collection of the American Nudist
Research Library. The second half puts them in context in the
long tradition of artists such as Michelangelo, Blake, Dore, Rodin, and
Fidus.
From the introduction:
"Jews, Christians, and Muslims all look to stories
from the Bible. Even for people of no religion, those stories
form a common part of our culture. Sometimes, the Bible bluntly
states 'They were naked.' Other activities, such as bathing,
sleeping, sex, swimming, net fishing, and sometimes wrestling were
commonly done nude, and commonly accepted as normal parts of daily
life. Nudity in childhood also has a timeless history around the
world.
"The relationship between nudity and religion is an
interesting one—sometimes fraught with tension, sometimes leading
to deeper faith. From time to time, puritanical sects have
arisen, whose adherents, in their search for spirituality, loathe the
body and all reminders of it. This book is not for them.
Rather, it is for those who seek a unity and universality in all
of life."
A Visit to Athens, Sparta, and Olympia.
Kissimmee: by the author. 2021. 30 p. paperback with 17
black-and-white illustrations. Age 10 through adult. $15 includes
postage.
This little book is written for nudist families (age
10 through adult) and others seeking accurate information about growing
up in ancient Greece. The children (age 10 to 15) visit the two most
important Greek cities plus the Olympics, learning much about their
different approaches to education and life.
So which city was best for growing up? That may depend on whether
you were a boy or a girl. Few other books even mention girls.
Accurate illustrations help readers to visualize the confident and
thriving society where the goal of education was a well developed mind
in a well developed body.
Though most people will read it silently, the story is written in
dramatic form and might, under special circumstances, be acted as a
play.
Be aware that this booklet is reprinted in Naturist Writings of Paul LeValley, Including Movie Reviews.
One Boy's Adventure in the South Seas. Kissimmee:
by the author. 2021. 40 p. paperback. Intended for
teenage boys (not appropriate for younger readers). $15 includes
postage.
This is every teenage boy's fantasy: to have a harem at an early
age. It is the 1790s. Twelve-year-old Sam Conley finds himself
stranded on a cannibal island in the south Pacific. The women and
children all live naked. But where are the men?
He gradually learns that the women there have solved the war
problem: they raise boys for breeding purposes, then eat them before
they can cause trouble. Over the next two years, can Sam enjoy all the
benefits the islands have to offer, yet escape in time? Or will he
become another footnote in the islands' history?
Amid tough realities, Sam learns fresh and wondrous things about
his maturing body, women, love, and his role in island society.
Be aware that this booklet is reprinted in Naturist Writings of Paul LeValley, Including Movie Reviews.
The Orfalinda Trilogy
and
Other
Early Writings.
PublishAmerica.
2004. 182 p. paperback. $15 includes postage.
Hardcover limited edition for rare
book collectors: The publisher
reverted to doing only paperbacks just six weeks after the hardbound
edition was published. Only 25 copies were ever printed.
Numbered and signed by the author, they sell for $30, postage
included. They have a separate ISBN number, and are available
nowhere else.
Most of
these short stories and poems were written in the 1960s and '70s--with
a section of more recent essays added at the end. Here are
the back cover blurbs:
In
the set of title stories, a quiet teacher gets romantically involved
with two Mexican-American former students—mother and
daughter.
(Oh my!) The final selection finds the author delivering the
keynote address at a nudist convention. (Oh my, oh
my!)
Actually, it's all quite tastefully done. Sandwiched between
are
provocative poems, Jehovah's Christmas monologue, Boy Scouts around the
campfire, royal genealogy, and America's social classes
skewered.
With wise and witty commentary, the mature author looks back on "the
very best of my juvenilia." The writing is concise,
thoughtful,
powerful.
Paul
LeValley (1942- ) grew up on a farm near Morrice,
Michigan.
After teaching several years at Saginaw High School, he now
occasionally teaches World Humanities at Florida A & M
University,
or Art of India at Florida State University. He has traveled
in
more than 60 countries, and published over 70 scholarly articles across
four continents.
Click here
for
the full table of contents and some samples of the text.
History of Morrice
Michigan.
Tallahassee: by the author. First edition 2001. Second
edition 2013. Third edition 2024.
112 p. paperback. $20 includes postage.
The third edition is now available--with 21 pages of pictures and
maps, plus the complete village census records 1880-1950. To read
a very short version, click here.
That will lead you to the censuses. Or you can order a
full paper copy of everything for
your bookshelf.
Naturists:
Upholders of
Strong
Family Values.
Tallahassee: Tallahassee Naturally.
First edition 1997. Second edition 2001.
Third edition 2007. Fourth edition 2017. 12 p. paperback.
It is published with two different covers: one specific to
Florida and one for everywhere else. $3.50
includes postage. ($2.75 in quantities of 10 or more).
This
booklet does not belong on your bookshelf, but in the files of each of your
county commissioners and state legislators. Over two
thousand copies have been hand-delivered across the nation.
For
brief excerpts, click here.
Be aware that the Fourth Florida edition of this booklet is reprinted in Naturist Writings of Paul LeValley, Including Movie Reviews.
The LeValleys of
Monteagle: Descendants of
Peter LeValley of Warwick, Rhode Island.2020.$125 for the 2-volume
set.
52 years of research
1,376 pages in 2 volumes
1,758 male-line descendants who have used the LeValley name, plus
spouses
nearly 800 pictures--mostly black-and-white, with an 8-page color
section
Movie script on the Gymnosophists.
I don't know if this movie will ever be produced
because of all the nudity, but I know it won't if I don't write the
script for it.
Five Thousand Years.
3 volumes.
This high school World History textbook was begun in 1972,
then largely neglected
for thirty years while the author pursued advanced degrees and college
teaching. Some parts of the manuscript can be found at http://www.paullevalley.com/school.
For the table of contents, click
here.