"Banned Books" in the Collections of the Archives & Rare Books Library

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

Rare Books PS3552.U75 N2 1959  

Naked Lunch was found to be obscene in the Superior Court of Boston, Massachusetts in 1965, but the finding was reversed by the State Supreme Court the following year.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Rare Books PS3515.E47 F2 1929

A Farewell to Arms first ran in the June 1929 issue of Scribner's Magazine, which was banned in Boston, Massachusetts the year of release. That same year it was banned in Italy because of its "painfully accurate account of the Italian retreat from Caporetto, Italy." It was burned by the Nazis in Germany in 1933. It has been challenged in several schools, including the Dallas, TX Independent School District high school libraries in 1974 and the Vernon-Verona-Sherill, NY School District in 1980.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Rare Books   PS3515.E47 F6 1940

The U.S. Post Office declared For Whom the Bell Tolls to be "non-mailable" in 1940. The Turkish government considered the book "propaganda unfavorable to the state" in February, 1973 and confiscated all copies. Eight booksellers and eleven publishers went on trial on charges of publishing, possessing and selling the book.

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Rare Books PS3515.E47 S8 1926b  

The Sun Also Rises was banned in Boston in 1930, Ireland in 1953, and Riverside and San Jose, CA in 1960. Like Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, it was burned in Nazi bonfires in Germany  in 1933.

Ulysses by James Joyce

Rare Books PR6019.O9 U5 1926, PR6019.O9 U5 1924  

Ulysses has been burned around the world: the U.S. in 1918, Ireland in 1922, Canada in 1922 and England in 1923. It was banned in England in 1929.

The image shown here is from ARB's copy of a facsimile of the manuscript.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Rare Books PR6023.A93 L3 1928, PR6023.A93 L3 1928b, PR6023.A93 L3 1928a  

Lady Chatterley's Lover was banned by U.S. Customs in 1929. It has also been banned throughout the world: Ireland and Poland in 1932, Australia, Japan  and India in 1959, and in Canada in 1960 (until 1962).  In 1987 distribution of the book was stopped in China because the book “will corrupt the minds of young people and is also against the Chinese tradition.”

Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence

Rare Books PR6023.A93 W6 1920  

In 1922, Women in Love was seized by John Summers of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and declared obscene.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Rare Books PS3525.I57 T8 1940 

Tropic of Cancer was banned from U.S. Customs in 1934, but in 1964 the U.S. Supreme Court found the novel not obscene. It was banned in Turkey in 1986.

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Rare Books PS3563.O7736 S6

Song of Solomon has faced many challenges coming from schools. While it was challenged in the Columbus, OH schools in 1993, the book was retained. It was removed from required reading lists and library shelves in the Richmond County, GA. School District in 1994. It was challenged at the St. Johns County Schools in St. Augustine, FL in 1995 and removed from the St. Mary's County, MD schools' approved text list in 1998 by the superintendent, overruling a faculty committee recommendation. Complainants believed that the book was degrading to blacks, sexually explicit, and inappropriate for age levels. It has been described in challenges as "filth," "trash," and "repulsive."

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Rare Books PG3476.N3 L6 1955  

Lolita was banned as obscene in France in 1956 in England in 1955, in Argentina in 1959, and in New Zealand in 1960. The South African Directorate of Publications announced on November 27, 1982, that Lolita had been taken off the banned list, eight years after a request for permission to market the novel in paperback had been refused.  It was challenged at the Marion-Levy Public Library System in Ocala, FL in 2006.  The Marion County commissioners voted to have the county attorney review the novel that addresses the themes of pedophilia and incest, to determine if it meets the state law’s definition of “unsuitable for minors.” 

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Rare Books PS3537.T45 G7 1939

When Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939 it was burned by the East St. Louis, IL library and banned from libraries in Buffalo, Kansas City, and Kern County, CA, where the book’s story took place. Since then it has frequently been challenged as being blasphemous and profane.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Rare Books PS1305 .A1 1942

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been continually challenged as being racist and degrading to African Americans. In 1957, the New York City Board of Education removed Huck Finn from an approved textbook list for elementary and junior high schools. In 1963, Philadelphia removed it from their curriculum, then replaced it with a more politically correct version. In 1976, New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, removed it as required reading, but retained it as elective reading. Challenges to Huck Finn can still be found in today's news and the book was number fourteen on the ALA's most challenged books of 2000-2009.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Rare Books PS1306 .A1 1880  

In 1937, Tom Sawyer was banned in Brazil as part of a campaign against "subversive" and "Communist" literature. As early as 1867, it was excluded from the children's room in Brooklyn's public library and the Denver Public Library as setting a bad example for the country's youth.