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"D----!" Librarian, 3:281-83, March 1913. D1
The banning of Tom Jones by the Library Committee of Doncaster, prompts this witty essay on banning books because of objectionable words.
Dahl, Francis W., and Charles W. Moton. "Dahl's Boston." Atlantic Monthly, 178(5):55-60, November 1946. D2
The cartoonist whose caricatures of Watch and Ward censors appeared frequently in the Boston Herald, describes the "noncensorship technique of suppressing books" used by the Watch and Ward, the Boston booksellers, and the police.
Daily Worker (London). The Case of the Daily Worker. By the Members of the Former Editorial Board: J. B. S. Haldane (Chairman); Sean O'Casey; Councillor J. Owen; R. Page Arnot. London, Editorial Board, Daily Worker, [1941?]. 20p. D3 §
A protest against the suppression of the London Daily Worker during World War II, under a wartime regulation permitting the British Home Secretary to prohibit the issue of a newspaper that systematically publishes "matter calculated to foment opposition to the prosecution of the war to a successful issue."
[Dakin, Edwin F.]. The Blight that Failed. New York, Blue Ribbon Books, [1930?]16p. D4
"Being an account of how Mr. Edwin Franden Dakin's outstanding biography, 'Mrs. Eddy: The Biography of a Virginal Mind,' came to be published; of the efforts made by officials of the Christian Science Church to obtain access to the MS. in order to censor it; of the methods adopted to induce booksellers and libraries not to stock or circulate the book, and of the failure of this concerted effort to put a blight on the liberties of free speech, free thought, and a free press."
[-------]. "Foreword." In his Mrs. Eddy; The Biography of a Virginal Mind. New York, Blue Ribbon Books, [1930], pp.vii-x. D5
The author's foreword refers to the suppression of the Georgine Milmine biography of Mrs. Eddy, the plates having been bought by a friend of Mrs. Eddy and destroyed. The publisher's preface of the present book describes the unsuccessful efforts of an "organized Minority" to suppress the Dakin volume. Dakin's bibliography cites other works on the Christian Science "index expurgatorius." G. P. Putnam withdrew the fourth volume of the Cambridge History of American Literature in 1921 when the Christian Science Committee on Publication objected to Professor Woodbridge Riley's article on Science and Health (he had referred to Mrs. Eddy as "the thrice-married female Trismegistus"). An article by the Rev. Lyman P. Powell was substituted. Powell also wrote a replacement article for Professor Riley's The Book of Mormon, objected to by members of that sect (New York Times, 19 April 1921; 4 September 1921).
Dalcourt, Gerald J. "The Index [of Prohibited Books]: Past, Present, Future." Catholic Library World, 32:45-50, October 1960. D6
A revision of the Catholic Index is expected, bringing it more in line with present-day thinking.
-------. "Pornography, the Law, and the Kronhausens." Catholic Library World, 32:343-47, March 1961. D7
A critique of Pornography and the Law by Phyllis and Eberhard Kronhausen. The author questions many of the assumptions and conclusions in this study. "It should be obvious that the arguments of the Kronhausens against censorship are completely unacceptable for a Christian. Nor are they very persuasive from a philosophical and scientific point of view . . . The analysis of hard-core pornography is the only major section of the Kronhausen book which is durable."
[Dale, Alan]. "Censors Are Bleaching Plays Abroad." Current Opinion, 77:328-37, September 1924. D8
A Hearst drama reporter, after a tour of theatrical performances abroad, notes that London was more puritanical and Paris more prudish than New York was in the heydey of Comstockery.
-------. "Dramatic Censors and Some New Plays." Cosmopolitan Magazine, 47:74-80, June 1909. D9
"Our moral censors are so busy denouncing the evils of the stage that they never find time to advise us to see the fine and inspiring products."
Dalrymple, Ian. "The Film Censorship." Spectator, 155:895-96, 29 November 1935. D10
An appeal for lighter censorship and a more tolerant attitude toward the motion picture on the part of public officials. The reaction of the public can be depended upon to preserve the public morality.
Daly, J. Bowles. The Dawn of Radicalism. London, Sonnenschein, 1892. 252p. (First published in 1886 under the title Radical Pioneers of the Eighteenth Century.) D11
Largely the story of John Horne Tooke and John Wilkes and their efforts in behalf of the freedom of the press in Great Britain during the latter years of the eighteenth century. Includes a discussion of the prosecution of Woodfall for the Junius letters, the sedition trials of Paine, Muir, Palmer, Hardy, and other victims of the hysteria that swept England during the French Revolution.
Daly, John Charles. "Ensuring Fair Trials and a Free Press: A Task for the Press and the Bar Alike." American Bar Association Journal, 50:1037-42, November 1964. D12
This television personality and reporter states that reforms are needed in reporting the news about sensational criminal cases, and he blames both the news media and the Bar for the unsatisfactory handling of publicity about trials like those of Jack Ruby and the Sinatra kidnappers. His proposed remedy is similar to that recommended by the Warren Commission in its report on the Kennedy assassination.
-------. News--Broadcasting's First Responsibility. Washington, D.C., National Association of Broadcasting, 1957. 16p. D13
The vice-president of the American Broadcasting Company speaks against Canon 35 of the American Bar Association's Judicial Ethics which forbids broadcasting of courtroom proceedings or taking of photographs during court sessions.
Dameron, Charles E., III. "Obscenity Statute--Proof of Scienter." North Carolina Law Review, 38:634-38, June 1960. D14
Notes on four cases: Smith v. California, 361 U.S. 147 (1959); a West Virginia case, a New York case, and a Wisconsin case.
Dana, John Cotton. "Public Libraries as Censors." Bookman, 49:147-52, April 1919. D15
"Skill in the art of exclusion'' is demanded of every librarian who must live within a limited book budget. The line between books included and books excluded shifts in accordance with the character of the community, stock on hand, funds, and anticipated demand. The librarian's personal tastes and views should not be injected. The author, librarian of the Newark Free Public Library, relates some of his experiences with patrons who challenged his decisions in book selection. He describes library censorship as a "benign necessity."
Danahey, J. D., and D. A. Ruen. "Freedom of Speech and Press, Extension of Personal Rights under Fourteenth Amendment." University of Detroit Law Journal, 3:80-85, January 1940. D16
Dang, Charlotte L. "How to Answer Would-Be Censors." Hawaii Library Association Journal, 22:14-16, Fall 1964. D17
Dangerfield, George. "Invisible Censorship." North American Review, 244:334-48, Winter 1937-38. D18
A discussion of British self-censorship, the result of predatory libel laws, monopoly newspaper ownership, and "a willingness on the part of the public to blind itself to unpleasant facts." He contrasts the British self-restraint on publication in the realms of politics (the Simpson Affair) and sex (James Hanley's Boy) with the greater freedom in America.
"A Dangerous Bill." Outlook, 109:549-50, 10 March 1915. D19
Opposition to a measure in Congress to extend the bill which excludes obscene publications from the mails so that it will also exclude scurrilous and libelous matter. Such an extension, which he believes was prompted by the Catholic Church, would constitute censorship of the press.
"Dangerous Thoughts: Zone of Silence." Nation, 170:525, 27 May 1950; 171:39, 8 July 1950. D20
"The Observer" notes numerous instances of censorship and blacklisting in radio and television, which force the media into a "zone of silence," the name being taken from an area of shipwreck and disaster near Vancouver Island.
"Dangers to Press Freedom." Fortune, 35:2-5, April 1947. D21
A review of the general report of the Commission on Freedom of the Press.
Daniels, Jonathan. "Book-Burners and Their Motives." Nation, 153:375, 18 October 1941. D22
Condemnation of "people out to destroy the freedom of books," in particular, the Georgia Board of Education which banned, along with a dozen or so other books, A Man Named Grant by Helen Todd.
-------. "The Naval Censor." Nation, 152:130, 1 February 1941. D23
A letter marked "confidential" from Secretary of Navy Knox concerning regulation of the press prompts this discussion of the dissemination of military information. "Both the army and the people would be safer from the consequences of military mistakes if there were a clearer understanding all down the line in Washington about just what constitutes legitimate information and a more efficient system of getting it through the press to the people."
-------. They Will Be Heard; America's Crusading Newspaper Editors. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1965. 336p. D24
Includes chapters on John Peter Zenger, Elijah P. Lovejoy, William Duane and other editors who were victims of the Sedition Act, the editors who defied the stamp act, and the pioneer San Francisco editor, James King of William.
Daniels, Josephus. "Jefferson's Contribution to a Free Press." In The Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Memorial Edition. Washington, D.C., Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1907, vol. 18, pp. i-xlvii. D25
"Mr. Jefferson's contribution to the free press was not bounded by geographical lines or limited by any period of time. It was for all countries and all ages. In his life, whether laboring in the land of his birth to obtain, safeguard and make permanent the freedom of the press, or seeking to aid the people of France, groping through the darkness with only the dim gleam of a censored press, to secure the 'liberty of speaking and writing which guard all other liberties,' he was always animated by faith in the capacity of man to control his own affairs, and by this oath of 'eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the human mind.'"
Daniels, Walter M., ed. The Censorship of Books. New York, Wilson, 1954. 202p. (The Reference Shelf, vol. 26, no. 5.) D26
A compilation of readings and introductory notes arranged under the following topics: Nature of the Problem, Moral Censorship, Political Censorship, United States Libraries Abroad, Textbooks, and Censors and the Librarian. Most of the articles reprinted are contemporary, and, taken together, form a substantial picture of the pros and cons of censorship.
Danna, Sammy R. Broadcast Editorializing. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1965. 7p. (Publication no. 141) D27 §
The author traces the development of editorializing through the FCC "fairness doctrine." He presents the FCC hearings beginning with the Mayflower case and gives arguments for and against editorializing. He uses surveys to show the number of stations that air their opinions.
Da Ponte, Durant. "Some Evasions of Censorship in Following the Equator." American Literature, 29:92-95, March 1957. D28
An examination of certain passages in Following the Equator as examples of a "possible attempt on Mark Twain's part if not to defy, at least to circumvent the influence of the oppressive morality of his times."
Darling, Edward. How We Fought For Our schools. New York, Norton, 1954. 255p. D29
A documentary novel built around the tactics of national pressure groups in attacking school textbooks.
Darrow, Clarence, and Harriet Vittum. "Censorship of 'Movies': Clarence Darrow and Harriet Vittum Debate New Ordinance." City Club Bulletin (Chicago), 11:187-88, 3 June 1918. D30
Relates to Chicago's movie censorship ordinance.
Date with Liberty. 20 min., b/w movie. New York, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. D31
Based on William O. Douglas' Almanac of Liberty. One of the five sequences deals with a martyr to freedom of the press, Elijah P. Lovejoy.
Daughters of the American Revolution, National Society. National Defense Committee. Textbook Study, 1958-1959. Washington, D.C., DAR, 1960. 20p. D32 §
Criticism of the nation's school textbooks, largely on ideological grounds, with a listing of satisfactory and unsatisfactory titles. Suggestions are given as to how members can influence local school officials to get satisfactory books back into the school system. "You will be challenging the entrenched 'liberal' position. You will find there is no one so intolerant or vindictive as the 'liberal' who is quick to deny freedom of speech if it includes criticism of the propaganda in textbooks."
Davenport, Walter. "The Dirt Disher." Collier's, 81:26+, 24 March 1928. D33
An account of Richard Kyle Fox and the Police Gazette. "He had watched his original stake of $2 multiply to $2,000,000 through the business of peddling scandal and racy chitchat."
-------. "You Can't Say That." Collier's, 107(7)19, 62-65, 15 February 1941. D34
Prediction of wartime censorship and a sketch of Lowell Mellett, "who will very likely be the American censor should the United States slip into this war. Sometime ago Mr. Roosevelt assigned Mr. Mellett to work up a plan." The job actually went to Byron Price.
Davidson, Clifford. "St. Cloud--How the Flames Spread." New Republic, 128(26):13-14, 29 June 1953. D35
Influenced by a group of Catholic clergy, St. Cloud, Minn., passed a city ordinance banning salacious comic books. A board of review took action against works of James T. Farrell, Richard Wright, and Somerset Maugham. A fight against the censorship, centered in the faculty and student body of the St. Cloud Teachers College, led to the board of review being suspended by the city council.
Davidson, Donald. "Decorum in the Novel." Modern Age, 9:34-48, Winter 1964-65. D36
The author expresses concern "when novelists lose all conception of prose fiction as high art and are willing in the name of freedom, to practice novel-writing as a low art," abandoning common restraints in subject matter and language and crossing the border into the realm of obscenity. "Censorship, then, would be the deplorable fate toward which the liberationists are hustling us."
Davidson, Philip. Propaganda on the American Revolution, 1763-83. Chapel Hill, N.C., University of North Carolina Press, 1941. 460p. D37 §
While largely a study of propaganda emanating from both Whigs and Tories, several sections of the volume discuss efforts to counteract wartime propaganda. Chapter 9 describes efforts of the Sons of Liberty to suppress pro-British pamphlets and newspapers through boycott, censorship, burnings, and intimidation of the printers.
Davie, Emily. "Profile and the Congressional Censors." Saturday Review, 38:11+, 5 November 1955. (Reprinted in Downs, The First Freedom, pp. 247-50) D38
The author discusses the Congressional attack on her book, Profile of America: an Autobiography of the U.S.A., and the refusal of Congress to provide funds for distribution of copies requested for U.S. Information Libraries abroad. Although the work carried a foreword by Charles A. Lindbergh and was widely praised in the United States and abroad, certain Congressmen objected to the pictures of a little red school house, a dust storm, and a quotation from Thoreau.
Davies, J. Eric. "Is There Sense in Censorship?" Student Librarian, 4:3-5, July 1964. D39
Davis, Elmer. "The Comstock Load." Saturday Review of Literature, 3:689-91, 2 April 1927. D40 §
A lengthy review with commentary on Broun and Leech's Anthony Comstock: Roundsman of the Lord.
-------. "News and the Whole Truth." In his But We Were Born Free, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1954, pp. 147-77. D41
A criticism of news coverage by the American press which, he says, often falls short of telling the whole truth. "Too much of our news is one-dimensional, when truth has three dimensions (or maybe more)."
-------. "Security and the News." Public Administration Review, 12(2):85-88, Spring 1952. D42
A discussion of the implications of the President's order concerning security of information and classification of government documents.
-------, and Byron Price. War Information and Censorship. Washington, D.C., American Council on Public Affairs, 1943. 79p. D43
Davis, head of the Office of War Information in World War II, describes the work of that agency in the distribution and control of war information. Price, head of the Office of Censorship, explains the system of voluntary cooperation of the press and radio under the codes of wartime practices.
Davis, Ewin L. "Regulation of Radio Advertising." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 177:154-58, January 1935. D44
The chairman of the Federal Trade Commission describes the work of his agency in protecting legitimate business and the public from false and misleading advertising. The job is carried out with the support of advertisers, press, and broadcasters.
Davis, Forrest. "How to Burn a Book." National Review, 2:9-11, 27 June 1956. D45
The author describes attempts to suppress publication of the U.S. Senate subcommittee document, The Communist Party of the United States.
Davis, Jerome. Liberty, Censorship and the Fish Committee. New York, American Civil Liberties Union, 1931. 6p. mimeo. D46
A speech by Professor Davis of Yale over Station WEAF discusses the proposal of the Fish Committee (Congressional Committee to Investigate Communist Activities, headed by Hamilton Fish, Jr.) to outlaw free speech for Communists.
Davis, Norris G. Freedom of the Press in Texas: A Comparative Study of State Legal Control of Mass News Media. Minneapolis, Minn., University of Minnesota, 1954. 575p. (Ph.D. dissertation, University Microfilms, no. 8450) D47
The study analyzes the legal restraints on freedom of the press in Texas and compares the Texas law with that of New York.
-------. The Press and the Law in Texas. Austin, University of Texas Press, 1956. 244p. D48
Includes chapters on Freedom of the Press in Texas, Civil Libel, Criminal Libel, and Access to Public Records.
-------. "Print That Picture at Your Peril!" Quill, 30(11):3-4, November 1942. D49
Deals with the publication of newspaper photographs as an invasion of privacy.
Davis, Peter. "Thinking Man's Radio." Fact, 1(2):23-29, March-April 1964. D50 §
The story of the controversial Pacifica Foundation broadcasting chain (New York, Berkeley, and Los Angeles), its provocative programs, its struggle to survive without advertising support, and the long controversy with the FCC over renewal of a broadcasting license.
Davis, Philip R. Obscene Literature and the Constitution. Chicago, [Boswell Club?], 1944. 14p. D51
In an address to the Boswell Club, 28 February 1944, a Chicago lawyer concludes that the final legal test of obscenity is whether the work is literature as distinct from pornography; all doubts should be resolved in favor of the work--book, play, art, or movie.
Davis, Richard Harding. "War Correspondent: Change from Independence to Close Surveillance." Collier's Weekly, 48:21-22, 30, 7 October 1911. D52
The position of the war correspondent has changed in the course of a decade from one of a welcome free-lance reporter with complete independence to that of a prisoner and a suspected spy. This veteran war correspondent calls for greater acceptance of correspondents by the military as a legitimate and necessary part of military campaigns.
Davis, Thurston N. "A Time for Silence or a Time to Speak?" America, 96:670-72, 16 March 1957. D53
Father Davis discusses the denial of clearance of an address over the C.B.S. "Church of the Air" because of its controversial nature.
Davison, Thomas. The Trial of Thomas Davison, for publishing a Blasphemous Libel in the Deist's Magazine, in the Court of King's Bench, Guildhall London, on Monday, October 23d, 1820. With a prefatory letter to Mr. Justice Best . . . London, Printed for the editor, by R. Helder, 1820. 58p. D54
The trial of Davison in 1820 for sale of pamphlets published by Richard Carlile is noteworthy because Justice Best fined the defendant for objectionable remarks made in his own defense, an action widely denounced in the press. This account also contains a letter from Erasmus Perkins criticizing Justice Best for the "extraordinary interference with the Defendant in the progress of his defence." The trial had been brought about at the instance of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. Davison was given a two-year prison sentence.
Davson, Sir Geoffrey L. S. Elinor Glyn: A Biography by Anthony Glyn [pseud.].Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1955. 348p. D55
The grandson of Elinor Glyn devotes a portion of the biography of his grandmother to the Boston censorship of her voluptuous novel, Three Weeks, a best seller almost from the time of its publication in 1907. A movie burlesque of the novel, Pimple's Three Weeks (without the option) brought forth a libel suit filed by Mrs. Glyn (Glyn v. Western Feature Film Co.) in which the judge found for the defendants. "It is enough for me to say that to a book of such a cruelly destructive tendency no protection will be extended by a court of equity. It rests to others to determine whether such a work ought not to be altogether suppressed."
Dawbarn, Charles. "Abuse of the English Press." English Review, 21:490-96, December 1915. D56
The author condemns the docility of the British press and notes the difficulty in wartime of telling the truth without fear or favor. The public often condemns the press as muckraking when it merely tells the truth. The press is "hopelessly browbeaten and battered by a snobbery that deserves the guillotine." The ungenerous public does not deserve the press it is getting.
Dawes, Manasseh (Matthew). The Deformity of the Doctrine of Libels, and Informations Ex Officio, With a View of the Case of the Dean of St. Asaph, and an Enquiry into the Rights of Jurymen; in a Letter to the Hon. T. Erskine. London, J. Stockdale, 1785. 40p. D57
-------. England's Alarm! On the Prevailing Doctrine of Libels, as Laid Down by the Earl of Mansfield, in a Letter to his Lordship by a Country Gentleman [with] the Dialogue between a Gentleman and a Farmer by Sir William James, with Remarks thereon and the case of the Dean of St. Asaph. London, 1785. 56p. D58
Dawes was a lawyer of the Inner Temple whose liberal views on freedom of the press corresponded to those of Thomas Erskine and clashed with those of Chief Justice Mansfield. He was one of the first English writers to advocate the overt acts test in political libel--that an expression was not actionable unless it advocated the commission of a crime. This was in direct opposition to the prevailing bad-tendency test.
[Dawson, Francis W.]. The Great Libel Case. Report of the Criminal Prosecution of the News and Courier, for Libelling Sheriff and Ex-congressman C. C. Bowen. The State v. F. W. Dawson. Charleston, S.C., [The News and Courier], 1875. 96p. D59
Dawson, Gladys, and Oswald Dawson. Free Press Fiasco; Balance Sheet and Counter Manifesto. Leeds, A. S. Fryer, 1898. 28p. D60
Concerns the controversy which arose from George Bedborough's plea of guilty in the trial for selling Havelock Ellis' Studies in the Psychology of Sex.
Dawson, Mitchell. "Censorship on the Air." American Mercury, 31:257-68, March 1934. (Reprinted in Summers, Radio Censorship, pp. 172-78) D61
Reviews cases of radio censorship by the Federal Radio Commission under the phrase: "No person within the jurisdiction of the United States shall utter any obscene, indecent or profane language by means of radio communication." Recommends a more constructive social policy on the part of the licensing authority.
-------. "Paul Pry and Privacy." Atlantic Monthly, 150:385-94, October 1932. D62
Contemporary Paul Prys are the tabloid reporters, radio gossips, Sunday supplement writers, cameramen, wire-tapping Prohibition agents, blackmailing shysters, and back-fence biographers. The author protests the exploitation of the public appetite for sensational news, but opposes any government control of the press. Instead there should be a reasonable restraint, voluntarily imposed, which would protect "the indiscriminate betrayal and destruction of private lives and sensibilities."
Dawson, Oswald. "Millard and Thompson Cases." Adult, 2:84-87, April 1898. D63 §
The acquittal of Book for Women and the judicial condemnation of the use of lantern slides of nude women in a lecture "for ladies only."
-------. Personal Rights and Sexual Wrongs. London, William Reeves, 1897. 62p. D64
In defense of Moses Harman of Valley Falls, Kan., and his crusade for the emancipation of women through sex education.
Dawson, Samuel A. Freedom of the Press: A Study of the Legal Doctrine of ''Qualified Privilege." Foreword by Henry W. Sackett. New York, Columbia University Press, 1924. 120p. D65
Deals with the legal aspects of libel and the rights of newspapers in reporting the actions of legislatures, courts, and government officials. "The heart of the doctrine of qualified privilege is the right of the people of a free nation to have published for their information what their rulers--their public officials--are doing . . . This is a brief account of the efforts of the public press to achieve this right in England and America."
Dawson, Thomas. The Law of the Press. 2nd ed. London, Staples Press, 1947. 222p. D66
A summary of English newspaper law, including the law of libel, qualified privilege, fair comment, seditious, blasphemous and obscene libel, and copyright.
Deacon, William A. Sh--h--h . . . Here Comes the Censor! An Address to the Ontario Library Association, March 26, 1940. Montreal, Macmillan, 1940. 16p. D67
"The Dead Hand Again." Times Literary Supplement, 3257:665, 30 July 1964. (Reprinted in Censorship, Autumn 1964) D68 §
Mostly about censorship in South Africa.
Deakin, Terence J. "B. M. and B. N." Times Literary Supplement, 3191:295, 26 April 1963 D69
References to the handling of erotica by the British Museum and the Bibliothèque Nationale.
-------, comp. Catalogi Librorum Eroticorum. A Critical Bibliography of Erotic Bibliographies and Book Catalogues. London, Cecil and Amelia Woolf, 1965. 28p. (400 copies) D70
Dean, Joseph. Hatred, Ridicule or Contempt: A Book of Libel Cases. London, Constable, 1953. 271p. D71
An analysis of 40 British libel cases from 1824 to 1946, some momentous, others absurd. Each case was chosen to embody some aspect of the libel law.
Dearmer, Percy, ed. Religious Pamphlets . . . London, Paul, Trench, Trüber, 1898. 380p. D72
Documents and commentary tracts include the Marprelate libels, the anti-Marprelate libels, and the trials of William Prynne, John Bastwick, Richard Baxter, and Daniel DeFoe.
de Bekker, L. J. "America and Rabelais." Spectator, 129:363-64, 16 September 1922. D73
A letter to the editor tells of censorship of such classics as the works of Boccaccio, Rabelais, and The Arabian Nights.
Dedmond, Francis B. "Poe's Libel Suit Against T[homas] D[unn] English. Boston Public Library Quarterly, 5:31-37, January 1953. D74
Poe was awarded $225 damages against the publishers of the New York Evening Mirror for alleged libelous remarks made by English in a quarrel in print between the two writers.
Defence of the Drama, Containing Mansel's Free Thoughts, Extracts from the Most Celebrated Writers, and a Discourse on the Lawfulness & Unlawfulness of Plays; by the Celebrated Father Caffaro . . . New York, G. Champley, 1826. 294p. D75
"Defenders of Books and Public Schools Analyze Recent Attacks." Publishers' Weekly, 160:1381-83, 29 September 1951. D76
A summary of recent articles and pamphlets by professional educators answering attacks on school textbooks.
Defoe, Daniel. The Best of Defoe's Review: An Anthology. Compiled and edited by William L. Payne. New York, Columbia University Press, 1951. 289p. D77
The section on The Press: License and Liberty, pp. 71-103, contains these excerpts: Of Truth, and Freedom of the Press (1712); A Proposed Tax Examined (1711) and Of Taxing the Press (1712).
-------. An Essay on the Regulation of the Press. Introduction by John Robert Moore. Oxford, Published by Blackwell for the Luttrell Society, 1948. 29p. (Luttrell Reprint no. 7) First published in 1704. D78
Defoe presents cogent arguments against prior licensing, showing that the system lends itself to arbitrary action by the party in power and encourages bribery. While recognizing the need to curb "licentious extravagance" of the press, he finds licensing as a cure is like cutting off the leg to cure the gout in a man's toe. Instead he proposes a law which will state precisely what is illegal to publish "so that all men will know when they transgress," and so that judges will not impose their personal opinions as to what is licentious. Defoe agrees with John Locke that the author's and publisher's names should appear on the publication so that there will be someone to answer for the work. Written in 1704 while Defoe was serving a prison sentence for his The Shortest Way With Dissenters.
[-------]. A Hymn to the Pillory. London, 1703. 15p. (Reprinted in James T. Boulton's edition of Daniel Defoe, pp. 100-109 and in Isadore Abramowitz, The Great Prisoners . . . The First Anthology of Literature Written in Prison, pp. 289-303) D79
While Defoe stood in the pillory for his offense in writing The Shortest Day With Dissenters, this pamphlet from his pen was sold on the streets of London. In it Defoe said he considered it no dishonor to stand where earlier defenders of a free press--Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick--had stood.
[-------]. A Letter to a Member of Parliament, shewing the Necessity of Regulating the Press . . . with a Particular Answer to the Objections that have of Late been Advanced against it. Oxford, G. West and H. Clements, 1699. 67p. D80
Wing attributes this to Defoe.
[-------]. A Vindication of the Press; or, an Essay on the Usefulness of Writing, on Criticism, and the Qualification of Authors . . . London, T. Walker, 1718. 36p. (Reprinted with an introduction by Otho Clinton Williams. Los Angeles, William Clark Memorial Library, University of California, 1951. 36p.) (Augustan Reprint Society. Publication no. 29) D81
This pamphlet, attributed to Defoe, does not seem to be written for any special occasion, but as a general apology for a free press and as a defense of accepting pay for political writing from both parties. Defoe served both Whigs and Tories. At one time, he was hired by the Whigs to take a job with a Tory paper for the purpose of sabotage. Only two copies of this rare pamphlet are known--one is at the Bodleian, the other at the New York Public Library.
de Grazia, Edward. "Defending the Freedom to Read in the Courts." ALA Bulletin, 59:507-15, June 1965. D82 §
A defender of numerous books and magazines in the courts advises librarians on ways to implement the Library Bill of Rights. "It is my opinion that under present law no book selected by a librarian for his shelves can constitutionally be found obscene. Why? Because any such book must have at least some slight redeeming social importance." Two areas of caution must be observed--the placement of the work in the collection and practices where minors are concerned. There is need, nevertheless, for librarians to have able legal counsel available to them. De Grazia bases his view on the Roth decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, which has come to be viewed as the law of the land in matters of obscenity. A publication is obscene if its dominant appeal is to the prurient interests of the average person applying contemporary standards. This decision embodies many earlier court rulings on obscenity, but not the concept expressed by Judge Jerome Frank (Roth v. Goldman, 1948) that arousal of erotic feeling is not socially harmful, or Judge Curtis Bok's point of view that a book is obscene only if it can be demonstrated as the cause of a crime or intent to commit a crime. De Grazia calls attention to the case of Smitb v. California (1959) in which the Supreme Court ruled that proof of "guilty knowledge" on the part of a bookseller was essential in a conviction of obscenity and that the obscenity laws should not be enforced in such a way as to require a bookseller to screen and censor books.
-------. "Equal Defamation for All: Section 315 of the Federal Communications Act." George Washington Law Review, 20:706-25, June 1952. D83
-------. "Obscenity and the Mail: a Study in Administrative Restraint." Law and Contemporary Problems, 20:608-20, Autumn 1955. D84 §
"The United States Post Office Department enjoys the dubious distinction of being the only governmental agency, federal or state, fully empowered to censor obscene literature and art . . . It is with the powers and procedures, standards, and rationales employed by the postal authorities in their exercise of this far-reaching power that this paper is concerned."
-------. "Sex and the Stuffy Librarian." Library Journal, 90:2483-85, 1 June 1965. D85 §
Unless librarians "first entrench the intellectual freedom principle underlying the Library Bill of Rights securely in their own shops--for every battle won in the courtroom by virtue of legal measures developed and provided through conferences and defense funds, no other censorship battles will be privately lost in the librarians' own chambers--the Library Bill of Rights will be deflated." He calls upon librarians to show their faith in the principle of intellectual freedom by making available avant-garde controversial works. The author served as general counsel for Grove Press in various censorship cases.
De la Bedoyere, Michael. "Censorship: More or Less?" Criterion, 13:252-69, January 1934. D86
The author considers the question of censorship of films in Great Britain. "Our ideal scheme of film censorship would therefore include the State, the Churches, the Universities and the trade itself." He considers that B.B.C., operating as a State corporation provides a means of functioning in the best public interest, understanding liberty and authority.
Deland, Paul S. "Battling Crime Comics to Protect Youth." Federal Probation, 19(3):26-30, September 1955. D87
The associate editor of the Christian Science Monitor summarizes legal action and community drives taken throughout the nation "to stem the flood of horror comics that now run to some 90 millions published weekly, doing a business estimated at $350,000,000 a year."
Delany, Hubert T., and Seymour D. Altmark. "Radio Censorship." National Lawyers Guild Quarterly, 1:401-8, December 1938. D88
"The problem presented by the American system of broadcasting is, essentially, not one of illegal censorship, but of encouraging and, if needs be, compelling the use of radio facilities in the public interest." The article considers whether radio can, "through regulation, serve the democratic function of a market place for free and uncensored discussion and thought," and what form such regulation must take.
De Laune, Thomas. De Laune's Pleas for the Non-Conformists . . . With a Narrative of the Remarkable Tryal and Sufferings underwent for Writing, Printing and Publishing hereof . . . Printed Twenty-Years ago; But being seiz'd by the Messenger of the Press, was afterwards Burnt by the Common-Hang-Man: And is now Re-printed from the Author's Original Copy; and Published by a Protestant Dissenter, who was the Author's Fellow Prisoner at the Time of his Death, for the Cause of Non-Conformity. London, 1704. 46p. D89
-------. A Narrative of the Tryal and Sufferings of Thomas De Laune for Writing, Printing and Publishing a late Book, called A Plea for the Non-Conformists with some modest Reflections thereon. Directed to Doctor Calamy; in Obedience to whose Call, that Work was Undertaken . . . London, Printed for the author, 1683. 66p. D90
-------. A Plea for the Non-Conformists. In three Parts. I. The True State of their Case . . . II. [Image of the Beast] III. [A Narrative of the Sufferings of Thomas de Laune, For Writing, Printing and Publishing a late Book, call'd, A Plea for the Non-Conformists: With some modest Reflections thereon . . .] Printed from the original Copy, and corrected from many Faults escaped in former Impressions. London, Printed for Joseph Marshall, 1733. 135p. (Preface signed "D.F." i.e., Daniel Defoe, discusses the persecution of De Laune. A summary of the case appears in Schroeder, Constitutional Free Speech, pp. 300-302) D91
De Laune was a Baptist layman and school teacher. In 1683 he wrote A Plea for the Non-Conformists, a classic, well-reasoned, argument in answer to a sermon in behalf of uniformity delivered of Dr. Benjamin Calamy. De Laune argued that Dissenters should be treated as "weak brethren," so long as they did not disturb the peace and are "not ruined by penalties for not swallowing what is imposed." For this work De Laune was arrested and brought to trial. He was convicted, fined, and his books were burned. Being unable to pay the fine, he spent the rest of his life (18 months) in Newgate prison. His wife and two children joined him in prison and all three died of the foul conditions. The Narrative of the Sufferings Underwent, included in this reprinting, was written in jail. De Laune's punishment was one of the most cruel and vindictive in English history. De Laune also wrote (1684) Two Letters to Benjamin Calamy . . . on His Imprisonment.
[Delavan, Edward C.]. Report of the Trial of the Cause of John Taylor vs. Edward C. Delavan, Prosecuted for an alleged Libel and Mr. Delavan's Correspondence with the Executive Committee of the Albany City Temperance Society, etc. Albany, N.Y., Hoffman, White & Visscher, 1840. 48p. D92
A brewer's suit against Delavan for an alleged libel in the Evening Journal, 12 February 1835. The jury found for the defendant.
Delepierre, Joseph Octave. Des Livers Condamnés au Feu en Angleterre. Paris, Philobiblon Society, n.d. D93
Cited in Henry S. Ashbee (Pisanus Fraxi), Catena Librorum Tacendorum, pp. 500-507, who lists the publications and persons condemned, according to Delepierre's paper.
Dell, Floyd. "Morality and the Movies." New Review, 3:190-91, August 1915. D94
Art and literature, writes Dell in this brief satire, have historically encouraged wickedness, but not so the new art of the movies. The movies began without freedom and therefore were pure from the beginning. In movies, unlike books, "good people are good and bad people are bad and anybody can tell the difference . . . Unfortunately, the movies are dependent to a great extent on those tainted arts, fiction and drama, for their natural materials." But the movies manage to emasculate the original work in such a way as to remove the danger and also most of the quality. He cites Ibsen's Ghosts and Prévost's Manon Lescaut as examples of works sterilized, emasculated, and made completely innocuous for the public.
-------. "Story of the Trial." Liberator, 1:2-18, June 1918. D95
Trial of the editors of the Masses for opposition to the draft in World War I. Includes Max Eastman's speech in his own defense.
Demaus, Robert. William Tyndale. A Biography, A Contribution to the Early History of the English Bible. New edition, revised by Richard Lovett. London, The Religious Tract Society, 1886. 468p. D96
Unable to get his English translation of the New Testament printed in England because of opposition from Cardinal Wolsey, Tyndale went to Germany, where the work was printed. When copies were smuggled into England, the Cardinal ordered Tyndale seized. He was ultimately arrested in Antwerp, tried, and condemned to death. He was strangled at the stake and his body burned. Tyndale's New Testament became the first printed book to be burned in England.
De Mille, William C. "Bigoted and Bettered Pictures." Scribner's Magazine, 76:231-36, September 1924. D97
Discusses the effects of censorship on motion pictures and the shackling caused by narrow-minded, arbitrary rules. If the people want the art of the motion picture to grow, they must make their own decisions as to what they want to see on the screen, and cease to delegate their power of acceptance or rejection to a small group of political appointees.
Dempsey, David. "Teaching Librarians to Fight Back." Saturday Review, 48(9):20-21, 40, 27 February 1965. D98
A review of the ALA Intellectual Freedom Conference held in Washington, D.C., together with the author's own observations. "In numberless communities throughout the country, that timid creature of our folkways--the local librarian--has become the storm center of controversy." He cites examples of courageous action by librarians and reviews the suggestions made by the speakers for "fighting back" when censorship strikes.
Denison, Merrill. "Freedom, Radio, and the F.C.C." Harper's Magazine, 178:629-40, May 1939. D99
The author discusses steps that brought the FCC into being, its duties under the Radio Communications Act of 1927, its ambiguous powers under "the public convenience, interest, and necessity" clause, the pressures it is subjected to, and the dangers inherent in its powers, such as "the exercise of the Commission's judicial function which is called into play whenever a station's program activities are reviewed in connection with the renewal of a license." When Congress again examines radio law in the light of actual experience, "the goal to be sought for is not the maximum but the minimum of arbitrary legislation."
Dennett, Mary Ware. Birth Control Laws; Shall We Keep Them, Change Them, or Abolish Them. New York, Hitchock, 1926. 309p. D100
An encyclopedic compilation of birth control laws, including comments on their history, proposed changes, and the opposition to changes.
-------. "Married Love and Censorship." Nation, 132:579-80, 27 May 1931. D101
The author of The Sex Side of Life discusses the freeing of Dr. Marie Stopes's Married Love by Judge John M. Woolsey after a 13-year ban by Customs.
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