Banned Books Through the Ages

According to the Webster's Dictionary, the definition of censor is: (n.) A person who is authorized to read publications or correspondence or to watch theatrical performances and suppress in whole or in part anything considered obscene or politically unacceptable.

The following books were suppressed and banned by censors and legal authorities who decided what was best for the public to read. Of course, the censors always knew better than the ignorant public what was best suited for their moral, political, or religious beliefs! You be the judge...

Fanny Hill by John Cleland was published in 1749. This classic novel, also referred to as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure has been banned on numerous occasions since its publication. Fanny Hill is a tale of its main character's life of prostitution. The novel gives candid sexual descriptions, although not as explicit as modern literature. The novel also satirizes other literature and writings of its time. It was not until 1966 that the U.S. Supreme Court released Fanny Hill from its censorship charges.

Ulysses, the classic novel by the Irish author, James Joyce was banned for fifteen years by the United States for its obscenity and controversial episodes. The censorship was lifted in 1933 and since that time, Ulysses was voted as the best novel of the twentieth century by the Modern Library.

Lady Chatterley's Lover, a novel by D.H. Lawrence, the English author was censored by both the United States and Britain for being sexually explicit and for its obscenities. These censorship trials were in effect up until the 1960's. Lady Chatterley's Lover was published in 1928 and told the story of a wealthy woman having a sexual relationship with a working class man. This in itself was taboo at the time of the book's release and along with the detailed sexual encounters; the book was not distributed in the UK until the 1960's. Today, D.H. Lawrence is seen as a visionary but his modernist writings caused him much personal anguish over censorship and misrepresentation. As the opening sentence of Lady Chatterley's Lover states, "Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically."

Canterbury Tales was written in the late 14th century by the Geoffrey Chaucer. He is now considered the Father of English Literature. Canterbury Tales is a collection of short stories about a group of travelers who take a pilgrimage together from Southwark, England to the Canterbury Cathedral. Canterbury Tales was banned for decades in the U.S. by the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act which prevented the US Postal Service from handling any versions of the book. This Renaissance classic was considered lewd, obscene, and indecent.

Leaves of Grass was a collection of poetry written by Walt Whitman in 1855. Many of the poems in this collection were considered immoral because of Whitman's praise of the human body, the senses, and nature. Whitman was even fired from his job with the Department of the Interior because the poems were considered obscene. In 1888, the District Attorney in Boston threatened to criminally prosecute Whitman for the use of obscene language in his poetry and banned the collection. The Leaves of Grass was later released in Philadelphia.

This is just a short list of classic literature that has been banned through time. There are hundreds of other works that have also been suppressed, such as: Black Beauty, Moll Flanders, The Arabian Nights, and even Call of the Wild.