OBJECTION TO BOOK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22018, 26 January 1935, Page 17

OBJECTION TO BOOK

WORK BY DE BALZAC COURT RESERVES DECISION After having been adjourned for a week to enable expert evidence on literature to be called, the case in which a Queen Street bookseller, Cecil George Swallow, was charged with offering for sale on November 13 an indecent book, was continued before Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., in the Police Court yesterday. The book in question is Honore de Balzac's "Droll Stories." The prosecution was conducted by Senior-Detec-tive Hall, Mr. Goldwater appearing for defendant.

Phillip Sydney Ardern, a lecturer at the Auckland University College, to which he has been attached for the past 20 years, said it was necessary for students of literature to be conversant wiih the works of Balzac. In the opinion of one authority Balzac might be termed the founder of the realist school, and occupied an important place in French literature. "Droll Stories," witness continued, was an imitation of the French of the 16th century. It abounded in wit and satire, and provided a picture of the life of the period. It was a work of historical value. Witness also cited passages from an article written by the late Professor George Saintsbury, which appeared in the 14th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Cross-examined by Mr, Hall, witness admitted that the work in question might not be suitable for boys and girls about the ages of 15 and 16, although it might be suitable for students 20 years of age and older. Counsel submitted that defendant had displayed the book as one possessing literary value for students, to whom it was necessary in the course of their degree work. Further, no undue publicity had been given to the book. Decision was reserved.