The expurgated parts of Gulliver's Travels
Author's Preface
The printer of my travel stories has advised me that certain passages in my works must be omitted if he and I are to avoid incarceration at their Majesties' pleasure.
While I resent the enforced censorship of my writing that he counsels I admit that he has wisdom. Their Majesties' prisons are not attractive domiciles.
Therefore I have revised my manuscripts to expunge the parts that might attract unfavourable attention or titillate the common herd. There are also certain incidents in my sojourn both in the lands of Lilliput and Brobdingnag that I would be reluctant to expose to public view to the public's obloquy while I am alive.
I have arranged that this cowardly acquiescence to expediency shall not survive me. I have retained the offending manuscripts and I will transmit them to my heirs will instructions to publish them as an addendum to my "Gulliver's Travels" when I am deceased and beyond threat of their Majesties' displeasure.
I appreciate that even my heirs may find difficulty in finding a printer willing to risk imprisonment for uttering these passages but hope that future generations may lead to a society more tolerant than those of my day. If you, gentle reader, are reading these passages, it can only be because more latitude is allowed to authors than was possible to me.
Yours &tc
Jonathan Swift 1745
Editor's Note
This letter and the manuscripts of the parts deleted from Lilliput and Brobdingnag were found in a disused vault of a former bank in the City of London when it was demolished to make way for a new building. It was forwarded by order of the Mayor of London, on behalf of the City who are the freeholders of the site, to me as the ultimate heir of the estate of Jonathan Swift.
I am pleased to dedicate this portion covering Gulliver's time in Brobdingnag, here first published, to the Mayor and Corporation of the City of London. Long may they follow their motto "Domine Dirige Nos".
Even in these days I consider it safer to identify myself as:
Anon 2004
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Brobdingnag Part the First
As this is to be published as an addendum to the work "Gulliver's Travels" I assume that the reader is aware of the circumstances that led to me being abandoned on the coast of Brobdingnag, and how I came to court with my protector Glumdalclitch. In that work I briefly mention the froward behaviour of some of the Queen's Maids of Honour. This section of the work gave occasion to some heated discussion with the printer but eventually was retained in a slightly modified form. The passage relating my time with the Queen's favourite lady had to be omitted entirely together with the circumstances which led to my protector's absence.
It was unfortunate that Glumdalclitch, who was a country girl, was not immune to the distempers that attack those who live in more populated areas. Soon after the incident with the Maids of Honour, Glumdalclitch caught what I assume was the local equivalent of mumps. It was imperative that she and I should part while she was infectious. Glumdalclitch fared well enough. A kindly lady who had the disease as a child cared for her.
I wish I could say that I was as well cared for. The Queen was concerned about my well being. She decided to entrust my person to her favourite, the Duchess Petrova. Neither name or title are those of the lady whose name I wish to protect even now.
The Duke, the Duchess's husband, was a brute but a very powerful one. He was second only to the King in Brobdingnag in estates and wealth. If there were to be a revolution then the Duke would be the obvious person to succeed the King. For that reason he had been persuaded to marry Petrova who was one of the King's cousins. He had not been difficult to persuade. Petrova was one of the most beautiful ladies in the Kingdom. Her skin was notably fair and blemish free even to my eyes.