God Forbid That Any Book Should Be Banned. The Practice Is As Indefensible As Infanticide

Rebecca West? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent British author and literary critic Rebecca West once compared book banning to infanticide. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: In 1928 Rebecca West published a collection of essays and reviews titled “The Strange Necessity” which included a piece titled “The Tosh Horse” containing West’s bold statement. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1928, The Strange Necessity: Essays and Reviews by Rebecca West, Chapter 11: The Tosh Horse, Start Page 319, Quote Page 324, Jonathan Cape, London, England. (Verified with scans) [/ref]

God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide.

West continued by listing a few works that had offended censors and the censorious:

But one begins to remember what books have been banned during the last few years. Mr. D. H. Lawrence’s sincere and not for one second disgusting The Rainbow; Mr. Neil Lyons’s beautifully felt Cottage Pie; Brute Gods, that astringent product of Mr. Louis Wilkinson’s unique talent.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order

In 1985 the quotation together with a correct citation appeared in “A Teacher’s Treasury of Quotations”.[ref] 1985, A Teacher’s Treasury of Quotations, Compiled by Bernard E. Farber, Topic: Censorship, Quote Page 45, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina. (Verified on paper)[/ref]

God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide. —Rebecca West,
The Strange Necessity: The Tosh Horse (1928)

In 1987 the quotation appeared in “The Delights of Reading: Quotes, Notes & Anecdotes” by Otto L. Bettmann,[ref] 1987 Copyright, The Delights of Reading: Quotes, Notes & Anecdotes by Otto L. Bettmann, Chapter: Book Banners, Quote Page 102, Published by David R. Godine, Boston, Massachusetts, in association with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. (Verified with scans)[/ref] and in 1991 it appeared in the “Bloomsbury Dictionary of Quotations”.[ref] 1991, Bloomsbury Dictionary of Quotations, Edited by John Daintith et al, Entry: Dame Rebecca West, Quote Page 411, Bloomsbury Publishing Limited, London. (Verified with scans) [/ref]

In conclusion, Rebecca West deserves credit for this remark.