Odysseus Elytis

Greek poet Odysseus Elytis (1911) is born today, November 2. 

 

 

Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Penguin

Today, November 2 (1960), Penguin Books was found not guilty of obscenity in the unprecedented trial over the famous novel by D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

The story is about a young aristocrat, Lady Chatterley, whose husband is paralyzed and impotent. She has an affair with her gamekeeper.

In 1928, D. H. Lawrence published his novel privately. It was instantly banned because of its obscene language and explicit sex scenes.

In 1959, Britain passed a new version of the Obscene Publications Act, making it possible for publishers to defend against charges of obscenity if they could prove that a book had “literary merit.” The following year, 1960, was the 30th anniversary of Lawrence’s death, and Penguin Books saw an opportunity to test the new law by publishing the book. Immediately, the trial commenced.

The defense called a series of 35 prominent writers and literary critics. The case lasted five days. It took the jury three hours to reach a “not guilty” verdict. When Penguin published 200,000 copies, they sold out on the first day, and most bookstores ran out of copies after 15 minutes.

The following year Penguin published a second edition and added a dedication to the jury who made Lady Chatterley’s Lover publication possible.