BAN REMOVED.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17742, 19 April 1923, Page 9

BAN REMOVED.

♦ f ,^;, BOCACCIO'S "DECAMERON.",' ",4 4 " l '" t ! (a* cails-pmsb ASBoAinov-opmioffrJ r (AUBTIAUAH AXD N.X. ÜBlfc ABBOCUTIOV.)', ', SYDNEY, April 18.,"' > The prohibition of "Decameron*»\has,'^ been remonred by the Customs Depart-*^ ment. ; v AxjJ (Received April 18th.. 9.45 TtJ^&mfc MELBOURNE, April The Customs Department now den%j&> that the ban, on "(Decameron" v Thafl|p been lifted, and states that importoJ|-^ tion of oheap editions still is iprohiWwffj ed. ' . s \pM Melbourne booksellers bee# formed that the importation of the i cameron," the .masterpiece* of the great* !$ Italian author, Giovanni Boccaccio, been prohibited' (says 'the "Argus" jM£<rn April 6th). As usual, no the prohibition is-given, but it'is 'a&Vs* sumed that objection is taken of the stones on moral grounds. other book which has been prohibited,is ' V a medical voiume for "popular" ing, dealing with birth questions. s In 1 ' ;#§ the past, similar Customs action I been taken against a number of-* vol-, f tf umes. including hterary works by lend- -fcl ing French authors, but before the» sent cases, no books had been for a considerable period. ~- ,"YM It is understood that on this occasion jij j, the celebrated "Memoirs'' of came under consideration, and that ***#■)'&! tention was also given, to passage* »'»''< 1i the works of Shakespeare. OhSaiarfXM "escaped on the ground that his appeared in what is nominally a ly printed edition, has not < been WD-jiy hibfted. "Action like this will Australia the laughing-stock of < the»Mg| world," said.a leading bookseller'yes-; &M terday. "There was ajgood deal comment of the kind in England years ago, when other works of artistic, or intellectual quabty stopped at the Customs. We eeli many copies of the Of course, no reputable firm * woulo)iS stock really offensive volumes. r '*\Thj||||| •Decameron' as a whole regarded. It is a olaasio,' eA&^ttfw«nraHK of art." Several others engaged; trade took a similar ary experts held that the some of the 100 tales of, ume is made np were merely were customary in stones 1 o£/th£>s9*!f|l Indeed, several of the stories "%s&&s& adapted by Boccaccio,from tales. * * * U' >V@ ''Not only has ly influenced the literature ojc Italy ana of other European countries," < said; of these experts, "but it is sn. essential ! ,\ part of English literature. Great and dramatists of alt periods have qeen " charmed by many of the tales, and byi"'V the grace of the telling, and they have /• openly adapted 'the plots and* characters in their own work. From the time <V's % Chaucer and Gower to the time Tennyison, and more recent writers, £? there are few authors of any note have not made use. of it, and expressed x their admiration for it. Students can- &> not possibly have a thorough under-y£ standing of English literature without t , l knowing how the 'Decameron' has been - used as a source-book. For that reason. t among others, the prohibition is ridi- - oulous. The absurd American censor- 1\ ship hysteria seems to be having some , effect out here." / V Boccaccio was born in 1313, and dieil ", in 1375. The I>ecameron' took 10 .years in writing, and was completedi m f 1358. Most of the critical a,uthontieec. 4 consider that, although some t of tales axe indelicate, the by the book, as a whole, is of frivolity nor of grosniess. r ,l^ysffiffl Objection is taken in the trade to the method of is stated that no one knowledge of books ore condemned. A (made against Jff^^^SSSvSsßi it But if there must be piv,hibition, it is maintained that at least the. wnns&tj \H should be a qualified literary vJ man, closely in touch with the both of the past and of the preaenfe.:,,'^^