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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Thank you, Anu; I did not know this. I also think at least part of the letter you linked to in today's Word is worth quoting here (or anywhere):
... I went back and read the founders' early writings about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. What a fascinating time to be alive! What astonishing minds! Here's what I learned: our whole system of government was based on the idea that the purpose of the state was to preserve individual liberties, not to dictate them. The founders uniformly despised many practices in England that compromised matters of individual conscience by restricting freedom of speech. Freedom of speech – the right to talk, write, publish, discuss – was so important to the founders that it was the first amendment to the Constitution ...
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 95
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 95 |
I am facinated by this. I checked the Banned Book List on the American Library Association link and the first on on the list was The Great Gatsby. I am now living in the house in which I grew up located in Port Washington, NY which is in reality East Egg. My mother had moved there in the 1920's and this book was banned, not for the content but that the parents did not want the kids figuring out who Fitzgerald had based the characters upon. No comstockery there; as it was more about the airing of dirty linens.
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 95
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 95 |
Imprimatur, this is still used today. It's companion is Nihil Obstat; literally means nothing hinders. The Catholic Church uses it as nothing objectionable in content.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
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Welcome kah454, I found a nice Nihil Obstat logo somewhere, but lost it in the proces of searching. If I can retrace it I'll edit this post.
There is another way in which the word 'imprimatur' is used. In
oil painting, from the days of the Flemish Primitives till the second half of the 19th century when the impressionists adopted a more direct "a la prima" technique ( e.i. started directly from the white gesso coated linnen), it means a varnish mixed with brownish or greenish-grey transparant layer applied to take off the blatant gesso-covered white of the panel or canvas.
( about Rembrandt)
"The primer for the panels is white, probably glue-chalk gesso, covered with a transparent brown imprimatur of Burnt Umber mixed with varnish, which creates the golden glow characteristic of his work. His canvases are primed with a warm grey made from 'loodwit'(lead white with chalk, ground in linseed oil) and Raw Umber, or sometimes with white lead alone, with a transparent brown imprimatur."
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 95
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 95 |
How interesting to here this about painting. I was a theatre student eventually receiving a Master's in Fine Art. I have heard of this technique. As a design student I worked with many scenic artists who would always use after "sizing" canvas a coat of either raw or brunt umber or raw or brunt sienna as a base layer prior to inking in the designs. Thank you
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Joined: Sep 2009
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Sep 2009
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Just yesterday I found this link to a very famous, and controversial, book by Charles Darwin that is a prime example of today's word "bowdlerize." Origin of Species BOWDLERIZED
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Can we burn Cameron's book?
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
They are distributing this Bowdlerized version at the top schools in the U.S. While there may be a few who take it seriously, I anticipate most of the students are going to laugh themselves delirious.
I fear, however, they will begin to pass it out at medium-ranked and lower-ranked schools where they might find recruiting easier.
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Joined: Sep 2009
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 12 |
I'm sorry, but i do not think imprimatur belongs in a discussion of words about censorship or banning books. An imprimatur is an endorsement of a book by the local bishop. A book can be published without the endorsement of a bishop. There are many books on the Catholic fiath without an imprimatur.
Associating the word "imprimatur" with censorship reinforces a prejudiced stereotype that the Catholic Church tries to withhold knowledge. In reality, it was the Catholic Church that started the university system.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
welcome, Sid! in re-reading this thread, I didn't see that anyone had specifically targeted the Catholic Church as censorial, but in reading Anu's definition again, I see that he used the word "censor" in the 2nd definition. there's interesting reading at Wikipedia, and also this short item at American Catholic. nearly any organization that edits books is using some form of censorship to make sure that the content fits with what they are putting forward.
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