Word: commonwealth
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Fanny Hill) is ideal prey for people who like to think about banning books. This subject of Massachusetts' most recent attack also figured in what is believed to be the first recorded suppression of literature on grounds of obscenity in the United States, Commonwealth v. Holmes, an 1821 case in which two Massachusetts men were indicted "for publishing a lewd and obsecene print, contained in a certain book entitled Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, and also for publishing the said book...
...turned out that the cousin was indeed an authority on "dirty books;" she even helps select them for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As soon as she had all the details, she called the chairman and asked him to summon a meeting of the Massachusetts Obscene Literature Control Commission, in order that it might consider the case of the notorious Fanny Hill, which is chock full of tales of sexual experiences...
...book is officially illegal in the Commonwealth now; and it has become increasingly difficult to obtain a copy since the Obscene Literature Control Commission moved against it in January, 1964. Once the 15-year-old's purchase of Fanny had been reported to the Commission, it recommended prosecution to the Attorney General's office. Made up of three clergymen, a high school principle, a police chief, and a newspaper publisher, the Commission is chaired by Joseph Zabriskie, who insists that the "rank-and-file in the state" endorse its efforts to seek out obscene literature which is alien to prevailing...
Fanny and the Commonwealth met head on before Justice Macaulay on May 27 in Suffolk County Superior Court. A full day of testimony saw Assistant Attorney General John E. Sullivan call but one witness, as the publisher enlisted the assistance of five Massachusetts English experts, including John M. Bullitt '43, professor of English and Master of Quincy House...
...signed the complaint. The signatories included the tiny leftist kingdom of Burundi, where Chinese influence is strong, and backwater states that once belonged to France: Central African Republic, Brazzaville Congo, Dahomey, Mauritania and Mali. Also on the list, however, were normally more moderate Ethiopia and the Sudan, and the Commonwealth nations of Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, of which better things should have been expected...