SIR,—The following are some of the facts remotely connected with
the fiction of The Ginger Man's history.
The Ginger Man was first published by The Olympia Press in June, 1955, in a pornographic series of books listed, numbered one to fifteen, in the back of The Ginger Man and collectively known as The Traveller's Companion Series, of which The Ginger Man was number seven. Mr. Girodias in his letter says, 'I owe it to my authors to avoid any confusion between literature and pornography—. He also says, 'It was quite a surprise for me to see, one or two years later, a new edition of The Ginger Man make its appearance in England which had been bowdlerised by the author himself.'
In October, 1955, I went to Paris and saw Mr. Girodias and told him of the possibility of a cut version of The Ginger Man being published in England. Some time following this meeting and some weeks prior to the appearance of the English edition, Mr. Girodias gave me notice that he would take legal action and obtain adequate damages if such an edition were published. I am therefore surprised at his surprise at the appearance of this edition. .
As for his mention of my mock principle, never to allow The Ginger Man to be expurgated; this would not have been necessary had my novel not been identified with pornography, thus depriving me of my name as an author as well as of serious consideration for my work.—Yours faithfully, 40a Broughton Road. Fulham, SW6
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