Perrin 1969

Perrin, Noel. Dr. Bowdler's Legacy: A History of Expurgated Books in England and America. New York: Atheneum, 1969.

in France, golden age of expurgation was 17-18th-c; livres chatres, "castrated books"

bowdlerism is not censorship; censorship is usually imposed by a government, bowdlerism is "a voluntary act" (xi)

first chapter indicates a shift happened at the end of the 18th and turn of the 19th century; people were happy to read certain novels aloud earlier but suddenly found them too indecent for refined minds; rise of sensibility and delicacy