Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice
Dust-jacket of Jurgen
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| Author | James Branch Cabell |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Biography of the Life of Manuel |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Robert M. McBride |
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Publication date
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1919 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | ix, 368 pp |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Chivalry |
| Followed by | The Line of Love |
Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice is a fantasy book by James Branch Cabell, which gained fame (or notoriety) shortly after its publication in 1919. It is a humorous romp through a medieval cosmos, including a send-up of Arthurian legend, and excursions to Heaven and Hell as in The Divine Comedy. Cabell's work is recognized as a landmark in the creation of the comic fantasy novel, influencing Terry Pratchett and many others.
The eponymous hero, who considers himself a "monstrous clever fellow," embarks on a journey through ever more fantastic realms in search of a parodized version of courtly love. Everywhere he goes he meets eccentric knights and damsels, in an acerbic satire of contemporary America. Jurgen gains the attention of the Lady of the Lake, Queen Guinevere, and even the Devil's wife.
The novel became more widely known after the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice attempted to bring a prosecution for obscenity. The printing plates were seized on January 4, 1920. The case went on for two years before Cabell and his publisher, Robert M. McBride, won. They argued that the "indecencies" were double entendres that also had perfectly decent interpretations, though it appeared that what had actually offended the prosecution most was the work's mocking expression of philosophy, including a jest about the nature of papal infallibility.
Cabell took an author's revenge. The revised edition of 1926 included a previously "lost" passage in which the hero is placed on trial by the Philistines, with a large dung-beetle as the chief prosecutor. He also wrote a short book, Taboo, in which he thanked John S. Sumner and the Society for the Suppression of Vice for generating the publicity that gave his career a boost.
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