It is now a trifle less than three years ago that a Mr. Walter J.
Kingsley, a theatrical press agent, sent to the literary editor of a
New York newspaper a letter[1] directing attention to James Branch
Cabell’s _Jurgen_ as a source of lewd pleasure to the sophisticated and
of menace to the moral welfare of Broadway. Hitherto _Jurgen_ had found
some favor with a few thousands of discriminating readers; it had been
advertised--with, its publishers must now admit, a disregard of the
value of all pornographic appeal--as literature. Critics, with varying
degrees of enthusiasm, had applauded the book as a distinguished
addition to American letters; three editions had been printed and the
tale promised to enjoy the success to which its wit, its beauty and
the profundity of its theme entitled it. No one, until Mr. Kingsley
broke silence, had complained of _Jurgen_ as an obscene production;
no letters of condemnation had been received by the publishers; and
the press had failed to suggest that decorum, much less decency, had
anywhere been violated.
Mr. Kingsley’s letter altered affairs. Immediately a chorus in
discussion of _Jurgen_ arose. In the newspapers appeared many letters,
some in defense of the book, others crying Amen to Mr. Kingsley. Within
a week, the merry game of discovering the “key” to _Jurgen_ was well
under way and a pleasant, rather heated controversy had begun. In the
upshot some one sent a clipping of the Kingsley letter to Mr. John S.
Sumner, secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice,
calling upon him to do his duty. Mr. Sumner procured a copy of the
book, and, on January 14th, 1920, armed with a warrant, he entered the
offices of the publishers, seized the plates and all copies of the book
and summoned the publishers to appear in court the following day on a
charge of violating section 1141 of the Penal code.[2]
Thereafter the record is uneventful. Mr. Sumner’s complaint[3] was
duly presented and the case was called for formal hearing in the
magistrate’s court on January 23. Upon that date the defendants
waived examination and the case was committed for trial in the Court
of Special Sessions. The trial was set for March 8, but upon motion
of Mr. John Quinn, then Counsel for the Defense, who appeared before
Justice Malone, the case was submitted for consideration to the Grand
Jury which found an indictment against the publishers[4] thereby
transferring the case to the Court of General Sessions and enabling
the defendants to secure a trial by jury. On May 17, 1920, the
publishers pleaded not guilty ... and, until October 16, 1922, awaited
trial.
For, in New York, a “crime wave” was in progress. The courts were
crowded with cases which involved other than a possible technical
violation of the laws; and, however anxious to rid the docket of the
_Jurgen_ case, neither the courts nor the District Attorney’s office
could do other than give precedence to the trials of persons charged
with more serious offenses.
On October 16, then, two and one half years after the indictment, the
_Jurgen_ case was called before Judge Charles C. Nott in the Court of
General Sessions. A jury was drawn, the book was submitted in evidence
and the people’s case was presented. The defendants, through their
attorneys, Messrs. Goodbody, Danforth and Glenn, and their counsel,
Mr. Garrard Glenn, moved for the direction of a verdict of acquittal,
submitting, in behalf of their motion, the brief which is printed
hereinafter. The trial was adjourned for three days; and on October 19,
1922, Judge Nott rendered his decision, which also appears hereinafter,
and directed the jury to bring in a verdict of acquittal.