IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, OCTOBER TERM, 1962, NO. 812: Bradley Reed Smith, Petitioner, v. People of the State of California, Respondent

Edward De Grazia To William S. Burroughs

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, OCTOBER TERM, 1962, NO. 812: Bradley Reed Smith, Petitioner, v. People of the State of California, Respondent

By Edward De Grazia, William S. Burroughs's copy

(1965)

Original communication from attorney De Grazia to William S. Burroughs regarding the Boston ban of NAKED LUNCH, written on the cover of the 1962 amici brief filed in the earlier TROPIC OF CANCER obscenity case, which De Grazia won.

Very good plus.

Price: $1,500.00

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, OCTOBER TERM, 1962, NO. 812: Bradley Reed Smith, Petitioner, v. People of the State of California, Respondent

"The book is a revolting miasma of unrelieved perversion and disease. NAKED LUNCH, in truth, is literary sewage." — Justice Paul C. Reardon

De Grazia filed this brief before the Supreme Court on behalf of more than 100 authors, editors, and publishers, including Betty and Ian Ballantine, Louise Bogan, John Ciardi, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac, James Loughlin, Robert Lowell, Norman Mailer, and many others. His handwritten note refers Burroughs to pages 5-7 in particular, which cite John Dewey and Sigmund Freud to support the argument that "works of 'fiction' and 'art' may contribute as much to the interplay of competing ideas and the development of public information and learning as works conveying 'news,' 'truth' or 'history'." His arguments were successful and in 1964, the Supreme Court overruled the TROPIC OF CANCER ban in a 5-4 decision.

De Grazia's note to Burroughs — written in January 1965, the month Grove Press appealed the Massachusetts ban on NAKED LUNCH — comments, "I agree so much with what you say - only you should say it in court!" Despite this early enthusiasm, De Grazia ultimately declined to call Burroughs as a witness due to belatedly remembering that the author had shot his wife to death (Lawlor), and that cross examination on this topic might make for a less than ideal impression. Instead, Norman Mailer, whose recent assault upon his own wife apparently presented no such issue, testified in support of NAKED LUNCH along with Allen Ginsberg, John Ciardi, and other notable figures. Although the court initially ruled that the book was obscene, that decision was overruled by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court — the last major ruling on obscenity and censorship in American literature.

Read more: De Grazia, Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law of Obscenity and the Assault on Genius; Lawlor, Beat Culture: Lifestyles, Icons, and Impact; Morgan, Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs.

The Object

First edition. (Washington, DC): (Press of Byron S. Adams), (1965). 9.25'' x 6''. Original saddle-stapled blue printed wrappers. [ii], 14 pages. Inscribed at length in pen across front wrapper from De Grazia to Burroughs, in part: "Dear Bill: [...] "Don't forget if it is unprecedented for an author to testify — this is FIRST time an author may have been given NOTICE by Govt. it intended to ban his book! / Best, Ed." In original envelope as mailed, with handwritten note "AIR MAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY." Moderate wear to envelope, light toning to brief.

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