Description:The Handsworth Library Annual Report made no reference to the banning of 'Jude the Obscure', by Thomas Hardy, from the library in March 1896, but there was animated discussion in the newspapers
'Mr Hardy, in place of the purity and freshness of 'Far from the Madding Crowd' gives us the morbid and - to many readers at least - disgusting story of 'Jude the Obscure'.... Books which leave a nasty taste in the mouth of the reader are better left alone.'
One reader commented
'I do not hesitate to express approval of the decision of the committee'
However another writer asked sarcastically
'Why stop at Hardy, Fielding or Ouida? Why not withdraw the Bible or Shakespeare? Or at least blacken out portions?'
The illustration is from the 1895 edition of 'Jude the Obscure'