NOVEL SEIZED BY POLICE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20702, 27 April 1929, Page 26

NOVEL SEIZED BY POLICE.

“ THE SLEEVELESS ERRAND." SUMMONS GRANTED AT BOW : ' STREET. i ' MR E. PARTRIDGE, PUBLISHER. >.Fkom Oun Own Couresi-qndent.) o , ~ k?NDON, February 28. , Scotland Yard officers made a raid oil the premises of the Scholartis Press, in Museum street, Bloomsbury on February 20, and seized several hundred copies of a . first novel- called “ The Sleeveless Lrrand, by Miss !Norali C. James. The police desucd to prevent the book being offered .for sale in the ordinary way before they were able to mak e investigations as to its nature. At Bow summons was issued against the publishers to show cause why, tlie books should not be destroyed The summons will be heard on March'd. •shortly before the rising of the court Detective Inspector Humphries, of Scotland lard, entered the witness box and said that on February 20 he laid an iniomation under the Obscene Publications Act, 1857, and was granted a warrant. Ihis he executed just before 9 p.m., and p T S ? Slon „°f ,289 copies of the book refened to. This afternoon, in eonmV U tnn e i°f 6 ;? t ? ethi J n ? which came to i^ dge ’ he added > 1 a g ai n went to the address mentioned in the warrant o£ tl^ a LT Sellt 22 8 further copies’ ot the book were delivered. I took nosofthe 1 P rod uce two copies n~m e .“"Birtrate (Mr Graham Campmons.' V ely ' ye ‘ Tllcre will be a sumMR PARTRIDGE’S SURPRISE. Mr Eric Partridge, who runs the a reS u’ de . cla red that he was v, . d o d when the police called upon him about 9 p.m. to go with them to give access to hi s premises for the seizure of the copies of the book. “They dod not - any rea f ou « he said, “but produced a search warrant granted bv the Bow Street magistrate. y 6 the LnV U iV aVe n ? idea why they seized serin? , wa ® brought -to ira in manuform by Miss James about four Si t * B " d ‘dwvy&rtp. i .hits P “bS;‘d. , ‘ r te,s “ “ Hie book was to have been issued in the public to-day. The first SOO copies ex-t^OO^inJ' 6 ? °y er ' su h s <wibed, and the next zoo had also been sold. The conies seized by the police-bet ween 200 and ?0?. were those still i n mv office I her , t^° ) po 1 lee have also visited a numher of booksellers and bookstalls in LonErremr ZI T| CoPle + S , 0f ‘ The Slee ™lcss DUand. I have taken no action whate\er as yet, I shall await developments." - t Y ORDS ~ NOT ASTERISKS.” taken to TiL * *f nk any c ob i ecti on can he Errand ’ ffif T t,Cme ., of . The ' Sleeveless anrl done is to use words, ffIK S Tt i. rlSkS, t in conversational passages. It is a frank novel, and some unpleasant characters are introduced, but m no sense is it obscene." ihis was the comment of Miss James fcf'? by a representative of the Dailv Telegraph. The author of the book is aii Irishwoman born in London of Irish parents, and. is 33 years of age. I - rtißtic merits °T my novel l can of course, say nothing,” continued dames - b «t the unfortunate thing is that reviewer will be debarred also. mvrm I 0? f° f % po,lce in confiscating ™ y r "° ve j, be fore it was actually published is remarkable. It seemed to. raise an interesting point,” . , A f is s James explained that the two central characters of her novel—a man' and f, woman—decide to commit suicide through, different emotional crises. The woman, deserted by her lover, attempts to commit suicide by driving a car over the Sussex cliffs. She meets a man who, having just discovered his wife’s unfaithfulness, is desperate. They spend a last 48 hours together, much of which is described in detail in the book. _The story is unfolded in the atmosphere of- the neurotic, war generation, with Soho cafes and a town on the Sussex coast as the settings. The authoress has been a student of sculpture at the Slade* School, an-ambu-lance driver during the Avar, a trade union organiser, a free-lance journalist, a canvasser for hospitals, a.motor driver, and ■then a political secretary. “ Sleeveless Errand ” is an old term lor futility.' Mr Partridge left New Zealand when he was 14 years of age, and went with his people to Queensland. He was educated at a grammar school in Brisbane, and afterwards went to the university. Then the war , broke out, and he joined up'in time to fight on Gallipoli, though he was not at the landing. He went through the war in France until the armistice and returned with the Australians to Buisbane. Here he finished his uni l versity course, taking his M.A. degree. Coming to England, he studied at Oxford and obtained the degree B.Litt. After leaving Oxford Mr Partridge obtained a post as lecturer, in English at Manchester University, and then as lecturer in the same subject at the. London University. Seventeen months ago he turned his attention to publishing, and since then he has been surprisingly successful, considering the opposition he has had to face. The Bookman, for instance, remarks in a recent edition: “The Scholartis Press during its short history 'has steadily been acquiring a reputation for the quality of its work, both in the matter of the format and general appearance of its volumes, and in the worth of its critical introductions.”

.Mr Partridge began by reprinting eighteenth century novels with introductions by present-day scholars of ■ repute. Among the reprints wore “A Sentimental Journey,” by Laurence Sterne; “Paul Ferroll,” by Caroline Clive; and “ Joseph Andrews,” by Henry Fielding. Other reprints were “The Castle of Otranto,” byHorace Walpole; “ The Devil’s Pool,” by George Sand; and “The White Bull,” by Voltaire. An anthology of pirates, highwaymen, and adventurers is a book edited by Mr Partridge himself. Beside these publications there have been a number of poetical works reproduced. “Poor Women,” by No rah Hoult, the. first modern and original publication undertaken by Mr Partridge, was a collection of stories. Of this writer :Mr Arnold Bennett says: “Norah Hoult is n realist; she writes what she has to. write like a woman and not, thank heaven, like a man; she convinces you; she will count.” “ Glimpses,” the second original publication; contains seven stories, the first dealing with a childhood passed in a New Zealand valley-. The author is given- as Corrie Denison, but the subjects of the stories lead one to suspect that Mr Partridge himself is the author.* The third original publication was the present novel, “ The Sleeveless Errand,” by Norah C. James. I asked Mr Partridge whether he had any doubts about the book before he decided to print it: “I had no doubts at all about it,” he said, “nor had the author. It is an indictment of the life led by certain neurotic people -of the West End. The language is sometimes strong, hut there is nothing obscene in it. No vices are condoned; and the last part of the book is the hetoine’s own indictment of the life led by her own class.” Mr Partridge went on to say lie believed the authorities had been keeping dose watch of publications recently, with the view of setting an example. He happened to be the victim. Not. ■ a single book had been sold to the public, so that it appeared' that, some reviewer on one of the papers had drawn the attention of the police to it. The confiscation of the book came as n complete surprise to him. He had no desire for the publicity as he would lose a great deal of money if the book were confiscated. As it was a Crown case he had to show cause why the copies should not be destroyed, and this would, of course, cod;- him a. good deal in legal expenses. If he succeeded in his case he quite appreciated both he and the novel would. obtain valuable publicity.