Anthony Comstock. Traps for the Young. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1883.
A vigorous defender of Victorian morality, Anthony Comstock successfully lobbied the legislature to enact a law in 1873 prohibiting the sale and transportation of pornographic materials (very broadly defined) through the mails. Notably, he brought down numerous sellers of contraceptives and publishers of lewd materials and had as many enemies as friends, silencing countless advocates of free expression and women’s rights. In Traps for the Young, Comstock details the many threats faced by children exposed to unhealthy urban environments. The frontispiece illustrates Comstock’s contention that reading cheap newspapers could damage the mind and lead children to loafing, stealing, and fighting.
