This Is A New Release Of The Original 1883 Edition.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1880 Edition.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1880 Edition.

1883. After more than eleven years' experience contending for the moral purity of the children of the land, and seeking to prevent certain evils from being brought in contact with this ever-susceptible class, I have one clear conviction, viz., that Satan lays the snare, and children are his victims. Thus spoke Comstock, self-styled guardian of the moral purity of youth, special agent of the Post Office Department, founder and leading spirit of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, and premier anti-vice crusader in American history.

Being Of Full Exposure Of Various Schemes Operated Through The Mails, And Unearthed By The Author In A Seven Years' Service As A Special Agent Of The Post Office Department And Secretary And Chief Agent Of The New York Society For The Suppression Of Vice.

The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice sounds like the satirical invention of a modern wag, but it was a very real organization dedicated to policing public morality in the late 19th century. Its founder, Anthony Comstock, was notorious as a crusader for "decency" and a strident advocate of censorship-so strident, in fact, that George Bernard Shaw coined the term "comstockery" to refer to his zeal for the cause. (Shaw was one of Comstock's victims; so were Theodore Dreiser and D.H. Lawrence.) Here, in this rare 1880 work, hard to find today in an elegant edition, Comstock obsessively details the results of his work as a special agent in the New York post office, which granted him the power to inspect the mail, determine what was "obscene," and harass the senders with the full power of the law behind him. A relic of American Victorian-era prudery, this makes for wickedly amusing reading today. American author ANTHONY COMSTOCK (1844-1915) also wrote Gambling Outrages (1887) and Morals Versus Art (1888).

The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice sounds like the satirical invention of a modern wag, but it was a very real organization dedicated to policing public morality in the late 19th century. Its founder, Anthony Comstock, was notorious as a crusader for "decency" and a strident advocate of censorship-so strident, in fact, that George Bernard Shaw coined the term "comstockery" to refer to his zeal for the cause. (Shaw was one of Comstock's victims; so were Theodore Dreiser and D.H. Lawrence.) In this rare 1883 work, hard to find today in an elegant edition, Comstock offers the "warnings, restraints, guidance and sympathy" that "alone" might "save the youth" from vileness and corruption, and compulsively itemizes the "traps" that were seducing American youngsters into lives of debauchery and vice, including "pernicious literature," gambling, "free love," "lewd art," and more. A hilarious artifact of 19th-century "scandal," this inadvertently delightful book makes for wonderfully iniquitous reading today.

Being Of Full Exposure Of Various Schemes Operated Through The Mails, And Unearthed By The Author In A Seven Years' Service As A Special Agent Of The Post Office Department And Secretary And Chief Agent Of The New York Society For The Suppression Of Vice.

Being Of Full Exposure Of Various Schemes Operated Through The Mails, And Unearthed By The Author In A Seven Years' Service As A Special Agent Of The Post Office Department And Secretary And Chief Agent Of The New York Society For The Suppression Of Vice.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

1883. After more than eleven years' experience contending for the moral purity of the children of the land, and seeking to prevent certain evils from being brought in contact with this ever-susceptible class, I have one clear conviction, viz., that Satan lays the snare, and children are his victims. Thus spoke Comstock, self-styled guardian of the moral purity of youth, special agent of the Post Office Department, founder and leading spirit of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, and premier anti-vice crusader in American history.