![]() Paralyzed by the fear of prosecution for obscenity, the firm had to watch in 1934 as The Bodley Head became the British publisher of Ulysses. ![]() It is hard to believe now the extent to which publishers were circumscribed by censorship right up until the 1960s. There are many parts of Faber’s history that make me proud, but there is no harm in remembering how that history includes the occasional howler. At the very least, it serves to temper the pride that might otherwise take over. The idea that we should learn from our mistakes, however-or at least acknowledge them-is far more compelling. No one can be expected to get it right every time, and it may well be better to err on the side of selectivity than to publish too widely. The main job of a publisher is to exercise taste in choosing what to publish. I’m not sure I agree with the first half of that admonition. ![]() Equally, of course, they can be read as cautionary tales for publishers: “look how foolish you were,” they seem to say. Their stories are invoked as encouragement to every struggling writer: persist, and eventually you will succeed. ![]() Publishing history is littered with tales of authors who suffered rejection after rejection-often for years-before they finally found a publisher prepared to take them on. ![]()
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