![]() May not the smug-faced hypocrite railing against realism be oftimes nothing more than an Orson in disguise?Ī man of clean and normally healthy tastes will read an obscene volume, and frankly say that he has finished it and does not care much for it. When I was quite a child I was much struck with the performance of a somewhat wild pantomimic sketch, entitled, "Valentine and Orson," and thoroughly enjoyed the scene where the monster or wild man beholds his own ugliness, as for the first time in his existence he catches sight of his shaggy lineaments in the polished shield wielded by Valentine. To which I reply that I really and honestly believe that too great a fuss is made over obscene books, and nine times out of ten the harm they do is hardly worth talking about. I may be blamed for having had such vitiated taste as to gather together a mass of literature capable of corrupting morals and sowing the seed of lust and licentiousness. These rambling reminiscences-or rather, a small part of them-I now jot down, and give them out for the pleasure and guidance of other collectors of the same style-if such exist. ![]() All that remains to remind me of many happy hours of relaxation and amused wonderment are the notes I used to make and the gossiping memories they evoke. This mania kept me amused and interested for some thirty years or more, and now I have set my house in order in view of the certain fact that I cannot live for ever, and as I know not what will become of my library after my death, I preferred to get rid of it while I live, and so I gradually sold off my collection or exchanged for standard works. For I never troubled much about any others. Through it, I was struck by the wonderful titles of the books that had been persecuted, and was also stupefied to find how under different political regimes, so many great men had suffered for their opinions expressed in pamphlets or in gazettes, and how absurd it all seemed after a few years had passed.įrom thence to hunting up the books I saw in the catalogue was but a step, and so I blossomed into a bibliophile, if you can so call a collector of forbidden books. Just about that time I stumbled across a catalogue of condemned works, and in running I had always a been a lover of fiction, and having been brought up before the age of bicycles and lawn-tennis, I think I must have given a little more time to literature than our boys of to-day. I was a long way over thirty and had never troubled to read a really obscene.book, although I knew that such volumes existed. Such are the benefits of old age and experience. Having fallen into what is called the sere and yellow category, I think I am entitled in my dotage to play at being a philosopher and find fault with my fellow men, in revenge for that they did often scoff and laugh at me when I was younger. Uncertain meridian politely termed middle-age. OMMERCIAL life had never left me much time for making a business of pleasure and relaxation, such as I see now around me as I have passed that De tout ce qui ment pour avoir de la consideration comme ecrivain, je n'en fais aucun cas." STENDHAL. "J e n'ecris que pour cent lecteurs, et de ces otres, malheureux, aimables, charmants, point hypocrites, point moraux, auxquels je voudrais plaire, j'en connais a peine un ou deux. Parts FOR THE AUTHOR AND HIS FRIENDS 1902 Oil ramitie ne fleurit qu'au printemps, Chen compagnons, seuls vous m'etes fzdeles. Livres cherts, que je lis tour å tour A table, au lit, au foyer, sous la treille, Je vous prefere a ces amis d'un jour, Vamour changeant, la fragile bouteille.ĭans cette vie aux destins inconstants, Dans ce vieux monde oil 1'amour a des ailes. Le taux de reconnaissance estimé pour ce document est de 100%.įIFTY COPIES HAVE BEEN PRINTED, ALL ON THEįorbidden Bool^s (". En effet, le mode texte de ce document a été généré de façon automatique par un programme de reconnaissance optique de caractères (OCR). Le texte affiché peut comporter un certain nombre d'erreurs. Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Littérature et art, 8-Q-4665Ĭonservation numérique : Bibliothèque nationale de France Éditeur : the author and his friends (Paris)ĭescription : Contient une table des matières ![]() Titre : Forbidden books : notes and gossip on tabooed literature / by an old bibliophile Forbidden books : notes and gossip on tabooed literature / by an old bibliophile | Gallica
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