Dr. Mary K. Bercaw Edwards will present upon the "Cencorship & Abridgement of 19th Century Novels.  Many, if not most, of the literary works that we now consider seminal were viewed with considerably less awe in the 19^th century.  Their authors often commanded little respect in the publishing world, and their works were drastically censored, cut, and abridged.  This talk looks at the elements cut from such works as James Fenimore Cooper’s Homeward Bound (1838), Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851), and Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage (1895).  Anything smacking of blasphemy, irreverence, or loose sexual mores could find itself a victim of the censor’s scissors.  This talk will examine the ways in which the censor’s intervention shaped the reader’s perception of the author’s intent and the historical understanding of the literary canon; it will present examples of new understandings based on the unearthing of original uncensored texts.

            Mary K. Bercaw Edwards has worked at Mystic Seaport: the Museum of America & the Sea for thirty years as the foreman of the outdoor demonstration squad, setting sails high aloft on the museum’s square-rigged ships and interpreting the history of whaling, fishing, and life-saving.  She is also an Associate Professor of English at the University of Connecticut and the author of several books on Herman Melville, including Cannibal Old Me: Spoken Sources in Melville’s Early Works (2009).

Presented by Dr. Mary K. Bercaw Edwards.
Sunday, February 21 at 3:00
Stevens-Frisbie House

Admission is free, refreshments will be served