The Boycotted Book
The Boycotted Book is a letter written by George Moore published in The Daily Chronicle on 4 may 1894.
This is an answer to Arthur Conan Doyle's letters (here and here) published in the same newspaper on 1 and 3 may 1894.
The Boycotted Book
The Editor of the Daily Chronicle.
Sir, — I hope you will grant me a few lines of your valuable space to publicly thank Mr. Conan Doyle for his generous defence of my book. I would, it is true, have preferred that the morality of "Esther Waters" had not become a matter of public discussion, but once the first paragraph appeared stating that Messrs. Smith, acting on the advice of Mr. Faux, had determine to exclude it from their library and their stalls, nothing remained but to press the discussion forward, and I am therefore deeply grateful to Mr. Conan Doyle for having thrown the weight and authority of his name on the side of justice. He had something to lose and nothing to gain by yielding to his generous impulse. I thank him. And I have also to thank Madam Sarah Grand for her letter, and Mr. Hugh Chisholm for his.
I notice that Mr. Faux, in all the different interviews that have been published, invariably begins by stating that he knows me personally, and he is kind enough to describe me as a very good fellow and a very clever one, and that no one would suggest that he had any prejudice against me. I am sorry that I cannot believe that this is so. The facts force me to the conclusion that personal prejudice plays a large part in the general boycott of my books at Smiths' Library. "Esther Waters" is a book which every newspaper has welcomed as an exceedingly moral book. To this opinion Mr. Faux is the solitary exception. I challenge him to name a single person who thinks as he does — prelate, politician, man of letters. It is said that Mr. Faux consulted Mr. Mudie regarding "Esther Waters," and that Mr. Mudie refused to join in the boycott. Mr. Mudie seems to have judged the public taste better than Mr. Faux; the book pleases his subscribers, who are at least as numerous as Smiths'. Am I to understand that the Smith subscribers are different from the Mudie subscribers a different race, holding different views on literature and morals?
Mr. Faux says that he has refused all my books except "A Modern Lover," which he accepted on trust. "A Drama in Muslin" appeared first in the Court and Society Review. It met with no opposition in serial form; the review was sold on the bookstalls; but when the story was issued as a book it was refused by Mr. Faux. "Vain Fortune" was published first in the Lady's Pictorial under the pseudonym of "Lady Rhone." When it was published as a book under my own name it was refused by Mr. Faux. Perhaps Mr. Faux is able to explain these strange inconsistencies. When he is good enough to do so, I shall be in a position to consider his repeated professions of personal friendship. — I am, truly yours,
GEORGE MOORE.
