Miss Coote's Confession, or The Voluptuous Experiences of an Old Maid; In a series of Letters to a Lady Friend.

Miss Coote’s Confession, or The Voluptuous Experiences of an Old Maid is a classic Victorian epistolary novel focusing on flagellation. The ten letters that comprise the text are written by Rosa Belinda Coote, the ostensible granddaughter of Sir Eyre Coote (1759-1823), whose illustrious military career ended in disgrace following the scandal caused by his attempt, in 1815, to pay boys at Christ’s Hospital school for boys to engage in reciprocal flogging with him (see William Cooper, Flagellation and the Flagellants: A History of the Rod). In her letters, which are written to a lady friend, Rosa describes her early experiences of the rod and the development of her passion for it.

Miss Coote’s Confession was most probably written by William Lazenby, an enigmatic publisher of underground erotica. It was issued originally in installments in his monthly magazine The Pearl: A Journal of Facetiæ and Voluptuous Reading (July 1879 to April 1880 issues). Episodes were later collected and published by ‘THE SOCIETY OF VICE’ in a volume dated 1892. A companion piece, also attributed to Lazenby, was issued in 1879: The Convent School, or Early Experiences of a Young Flagellant. By Rosa Belinda Coote. Lazenby is credited with penning one of the most notorious Victorian flagellant novels, Experimental Lecture by Colonel Spanker.