'The Image and the Search' was his last book, and thus a promising career was cut short by the implacable troops of Mrs. The trials finished him as a writer, his zeal for writing having been broken on the rack of public censure. But the wind had been taken out of Baxter's creative sails. The case came to trial three times and three times the jury could not agree and so the publisher and Baxter were found not guilty. Various famous authors spoke out for Baxter's book - some, amazingly turned their backs on a fellow author.

It was not the first time a book had come before the English courts on charges of obscenity, but it is worth noting that the particular judge involved was the same judge who, years before took part in the prosecution of D. When 'The Image and the Search' was finally published in 1953 by Heinemann, both the author and the publisher were brought before the English courts on the criminal charges of obscene libel. There was a general air of high expectancy awaiting his second novel. William Baxter's first novel, 'Look Down in Mercy' was highly regarded and is considered one of the finest English novels dealing with World War II. This is the First American Edition Published in 1954 by Putnam. Members of the press and authors and publishers everywhere - anyone who was concerned with issues of censorship - watched closely. Edition Vintage Book Ficton HARD COVER FIRST EDITION Walter Baxter's 'The Image and the Search', a serious novel, was at the center of an English obscenity trial. The Image and the Search by Walter Baxter Controversial Novel 1954 First U.S.

Look Down in Mercy by Walter Baxter