France forbids auction of Sade’s Sodom

France yesterday declared the manuscript of The 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade a “national treasure”, hours before the subversive and pornographic work was due to be sold at auction in Paris at an estimated €6 million (£5.3 million).

Officials ordered the 18th-century erotic masterpiece – dubbed the Gospel of Evil because of its depravity – to be pulled from the sale, meaning it cannot be exported from France, the Aguttes auction house confirmed.