We guarantee the authenticity and completeness of all items (unless otherwise described), and are happy to provide a certificate to this effect. All items can be assumed to be in good condition, with any defects being described in our description.
We guarantee the authenticity and completeness of all items (unless otherwise described), and are happy to provide a certificate to this effect. All items can be assumed to be in good condition, with any defects being described in our description.
‘The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.’
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
One of the earliest known examples of books being banned is as far back as 212 BC. Shih Huang Ti, the first emperor of a unified China is said to have buried alive 460 Confucian scholars in order to control the writing of history. He burned all the books in China, retaining only a single copy of each for the Royal Library. With all historical records now destroyed, he believed history could be said to begin with him. Sadly, things haven’t changed much over the years, and similar tales can be seen right up to the present day.
Recently we shared across social media books that have at one time or another been banned, burnt, censored or abridged. The reasons range from racism to anti-religious sentiment, from immorality to indecency, the advocating of drug use or simply just the ‘portrayal of exclusively middle class rabbits’ (I’m looking at you Peter Rabbit….). The texts shine a light on less enlightened times, the changing face of morality and the role of the state and religion in culture. Whilst the vast majority of these are from the past, the written word is still being censored by governments, schools and religions.
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
One of the most prolific examples of banning comes The Vatican. The ‘Index Librorum Prohibitorum’ contained works that were deemed heretical, or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index. Published annually up until 1966, when it was formally abolished by Pope Paul VI, any works included were forbidden to be read by Catholics.
Interestingly, this all started around the time Gutenberg printed his bible (around 1454). Books, once rare and kept carefully in a small number of libraries, could now be mass-produced and widely circulated. The Church saw that printing could enable the spread of immorality and bad faith and, attempted to stem the tide of rapidly spreading ideas.
Below is a selection of books from the shelves at Shapero that found their way on to the Index:
The Works of Joseph Addison
Placed on the list of Banned Books in 1729, where they remained until the abolishment of the Index.
This set is in four volumes with an engraved portrait frontispiece.
Honoré De Balzac (Droll Stories)
Balzac's work was added to the list of Banned Books in 1841, where they remained until it was abolished.
This a limited edition, one of only 350 copies. The translation is by Walter Widmer and it includes 5 coloured woodcuts by Felix Hoffman.
Paradise Lost
The first edition of Milton's masterpiece, 'one of the greatest works of the human imagination' (DNB).
Morality
Morality features heavily in the history of book banning. Sex, drugs and language were all reasons for abridging and censoring across schools, countries, religions and even the odd prison
Below are the chief contenders from the top shelves, with one or two wholly unexpected entries.
The Works of Oscar Wilde
The first collected edition of Wilde's works.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Rare editions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass with wood-engraved illustrations by John Tenniel.
The Works of William Shakespeare
In fifteen volumes with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators. Including notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens.
The Wind in the Willows
First edition. With a frontispiece by Graham Robertson and bound in publisher's pictorial blue-green cloth.
Germany 1933 - 1945
It should come as no surprise that the National Socialists stepped into the arena of book banning and burning.
They waged a fastidious campaign against the written word not too dis-similar to Shih Huang Ti. The books targeted were those viewed as being subversive or representing ideologies contrary to their belief system.
As expected, Jewish authors featured heavily but also pacifist, religious, classical liberal, anarchist, socialist, and communist authors found their way on to the list.
The Works of Karl Marx
First edition of the French volume of Das Kapital and the first issue with the publisher Lachâtre's imprint.
The Works of Leon Trotsky
First edition, written in the first year of his exile in Turkey after being declared enemy of the state.
Soviet Russia 1917 - 1991
The Soviets were systematic in their banning of works from inside and outside of the Soviet states and many authors found themselves on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain.
Subversive Russian authors would find their works banned often with ideological campaigns waged against them to further try and discredit their work. In extreme cases writers could find themselves locked up in gulags. Many authors critical of the Soviet regime fled Russia or had their works smuggled out of the country to be published aboard.
The Master and Margarita
Banned for decades, Bulgakov's masterpiece was only available in clandestine Samizdat form. In 1966 a version was permitted to be printed in the literary magazine Moskva.
This is a first edition from the first attempt to publish this remarkable novel in English, using the bowdlerised Russian text as published in Moskva.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
With The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, both first editions. Rare to come across this edition in this condition. Illustrated by Sidney Paget.
Nineteen Eighty-four
Rare, first edition and first impression of one of the century's greatest novels.
Modern Examples
Books are still banned or censored around the world whether through moral, religious of governmental reasons.
The Harry Potter Series
Rare, first impression of the deluxe edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Beatrix Potter Books
A rare set of early reprints of Beatrix Potter's iconic tales, in near-fine condition. These stories have delighted generations of children through Potter's storytelling genius and beautiful illustrations.
James and the Giant Peach An unusually fine example of the scarce first book written by Roald Dahl for children.
Shapero Rare Books is an internationally renowned dealer in London, specialising in antiquarian & rare books and works on paper, with particular expertise in fine illustrated books from the 15th to the 20th century, travel & voyages, natural history, modern firsts, rare children’s books, guidebooks, Hebraica & Judaica, Eastern European, and Islamica.
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In anticipation of the approaching London Antiquarian book fairs, this May, we are spotlighting rare African exploration works. Featured, are four first editions, with inscriptions linking them to historical figures, enhancing their collectability.
Join us as we journey through time to discover some of the rarest books in the world. The following texts have shown an extraordinary ability to survive, with some books having survived the ravages of flood and fire, and others counting only a single surviving copy.
The public perception of the East India Company, an organisation which was to become one of Britain's most notorious colonial ventures, was mediated by a collective of artists. Diplomatic wrangling, imperial posturing, trade and warfare became the subjects of a significant artistic movement, aimed at depicting and dissecting the Company’s involvement in the political and social life of the period.
The woods and rivers, hills and hollows of fiction constitute some of our earliest and most beloved memories: from the Hundred Acre Wood to the home of Mr. McGregor. Join us this Easter as we travel through the imaginary places and winding roads of children’s literature.
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