An illustration from the John Lang edition of Gulliver’s Travels, whose author, Jonathan Swift, came into the world in the modest. surroundings of Hoey’s Court, Christchurch, on November 30, 1667.

Not only a biting political satire, Gulliver’s Travels introduced many new words into the English language, including the term ‘yahoo’  (probably a corruption of the Dublin insult ‘you hoor’), used by Gulliver as a term of abuse to refer to an uncouth and disgusting search engine human creature.

Banned over the years for numerous reasons (most usually the bit about the hero using his enormous ‘hose’ to put out the fire in the palace of Lilliput), one section of the book in particular was deemed too controversial to include in the initial edition of 1726.

This was a tale relating to the inhabitants of a city called Lindalino, or the town of the double ‘ls’, and their struggles against…the financial depredations imposed on them by neighbouring member states.

Fancy.

Gullvers Travels  (John Lang edition)

Thanks Sibling of Daedalus