Wednesday, September 04, 2019
Excuse for Bowdlerization
Email from James O'Donnell:
Newer› ‹Older
You remind me of something Zeph Stewart talked about when he was running Loeb. Yes, he said, the old translations left a lot to be desired, and yes, they were bowdlerized to a fault, BUT he said, remember that when they were publishing the early Horaces and Martials in the Loeb, Britain was hobbled by draconian obscenity laws. There's *some* excuse for what they did in the concern of the translators and publishers not to be hauled up in court next to Lady Chatterley. Sure, they probably overdid the caution, but at least (his point) it wasn't entirely *their* prudishness and embarrassment at work: they had help from the police and the department of public prosecutions.
