Who's obscene? / by Mary Ware Dennett.

  • Dennett, Mary Ware, 1872-1947.
Date:
[1930], ©1930
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Who's obscene? / by Mary Ware Dennett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    word and the text of the pamphlet are given later in the Court record.) CIRCULATION UNDISTURBED FOR FOUR YEARS The first editions of the pamphlet were small, but as the demand increased, reprints were made five thousand at a time. The circulation grew simply because one person commended it to another. It had none of the “promotion” which publications ordinarily have. I had very pressing work on my hands, and the circulation of this pamphlet was a by-the-by matter. I was glad to have it do what good it could, and as the proof of its usefulness increased I was naturally interested in having it reach as many people as might find it helpful, though I did not want it to have an artificially stimulated circu¬ lation. It never had any advertising, with the single excep¬ tion of a tiny notice in the Survey in 1920. Nor did circularizing play any part in developing the circulation, except on one occasion when notices were sent to the directors of a few of the summer camps for children. Neither was the circulation promoted to any extent by reviews. So far as I know, it has been discussed by critics not more than half a dozen times, until recently when the court procedure gave it abnormal attention. Spontaneous letters of endorsement and appreciation kept coming with more and more frequency, and pres¬ ently organization leaders began to recommend the pamphlet to members, and it came to be listed in bibli¬ ographies. The circulation grew steadily and soundly. At intervals during these first few years my sons both re-read the pamphlet whenever they liked. It was usually when some event or conversation with other boys reminded them of points on which their minds were