The Ulysses Trials: Beauty and Truth Meet the Law

by Joseph M. Hassett

Overview

Cronicles the early life of the novel Ulysses and the various legal cases surrounding its publication. It adds not only to the understanding of Joyce but also to the history of the laws of obscenity, censorship, and freedom of speech. The author's experi

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781843516682
Publisher:	DUFOUR
Publication date:	09/20/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Illustrations vi

Foreword Roy Foster vii

Introduction 1

1 Margaret Anderson's Gospel of Beauty Meets John Quinn 7

2 Beauty and Truth Ignored: Quinn's Defence of 'Cantleman's Spring-Mate' and Early Skirmishes Over Ulysses 35

3 The Importance of Pairing Truth with Beauty in Defending Ulysses 71

4 John Quinn: The Advocate as Cynic 94

5 Between the Trials: Ulysses Wanders 116

6 Ernst, Woolsey and the Hands: Ulysses Unbound 125

7 The Impact of the Ulysses Decisions 166

8 Postscript: The Afterlives 169

Abbreviations 204

Acknowledgments 205

Bibliography 207

Index 215

Editorial Reviews

12/19/2016
Hassett (W.B. Yeats and the Muses), a lawyer and literary critic, utilizes both his areas of expertise in his analysis of the obscenity trials that plagued the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, first serially in the Little Review magazine and subsequently in book form. Hassett intends the book as a corrective to other recent histories of Ulysses’s controversial publications (most explicitly Kevin Birmingham’s 2014 The Most Dangerous Book) and the popular characterization of the lead lawyer in the first trial, John Quinn; Hassett argues that Quinn mishandled the obscenity case brought against the Little Review. He has a smooth scholarly style that draws the reader in, and his argument is well-researched and persuasive. The book also provides portraits of Little Review publisher Margaret Anderson and co-editor Jane Heap, as well as lawyers and judges from the later trials. The book closes with an examination of the Ulysses decision’s influence on literature and censorship, and a postscript outlining the post-trial lives of the main players. Hassett creates an engaging portrait of the dawn of literary modernism and will leave readers nostalgic for a time when a challenging literary novel could be the cause of so much trouble. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 02/01/2017
In this superbly written gem of a book, lawyer and literary critic Hassett (W.B. Yeats and the Muses) carefully considers how James Joyce's Ulysses, originally judged to be obscene in 1921 but exonerated 12 years later, was instrumental in changing the obscenity law. Hassett introduces readers to the two women who first published the book in serial form in The Little Review—Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap—and who were convicted for Ulysses's release. It took a further decade and another obscenity trial, this time over publication of the complete book, until appellate judges Learned Hand and Augustus Hand, writing for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, reshaped the obscenity law by focusing instead on the truth and beauty of Ulysses as literature. By recognizing that society could "no more thrive without truthful works of fiction than without truthful works of science" Augustus Hand's opinion paved the way to enable Ulysses to become one of the most celebrated, and controversial, books of the 20th century. VERDICT Hassett's clear writing style makes this work accessible to all readers, who will find the legal analysis both comprehensive and compelling.—Penelope J.M. Klein, Fayetteville, NY

Library Journal