Originally published on eve.gd on 14 January 2012, last updated 6 September 2026.
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I took a detour today, en route to visiting the Freud museum to the Islington Museum, in order to see the collection of library books defaced by playwright Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell.
Freud museum
Islington Museum
collection of library books defaced by playwright Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell
The collection was not disappointing! Among my favourites were "The Collected Plays of Emlyn Williams" amended to contain such fictitious content as "Fucked by Monty" and "Knickers Must Fall" as well as containing the typewriter upon which "What the Butler Saw" was produced and some of Orton's handwritten notes, on loan from the Leicester collection.
For those unaware, Orton had a brief, but promising career, penning a short number of sophisticated farces before being bludgeoned to death by his lover, Halliwell, in their Islington flat in 1967. The pair took offence, in happier days, at the poor taste in books available at the local library and so embarked upon a campaign of defacement for which they were rewarded with a harsh six months in prison and a hefty fine.
This reference list has been generated, in many cases, through an automated process and may therefore contain errors or incomplete metadata. It is provided purely as assistance for finding the items mentioned within this post.
1. Brown, Mark, ‘Library books defaced by prankster playwright Joe Orton go on show’, The Guardian, 11 October 2011 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/11/library-books-playwright-joe-orton>
2. Freud Museum London - The Home of Sigmund Freud, Freud Museum London <http://www.freud.org.uk>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/11/library-books-playwright-joe-orton
http://www.freud.org.uk