They were America’s chief enthusiasts of European Decadence dastardly dandies hell bent on educating their fellow countrymen about European high culture, Schopenhauer, and the avant-garde. The Decadence Movement in America with its self-conscious artifice, stylistic ornamentation, cosmopolitan sophistication, carefree irreverence and erotic innuendo was articulated first by the Saltus brothers, Francis and Edgar in the 1880s and 90s. version of Wilde and Beardsley–decadent prophets of languor. They did however generate a lot of publicity and became a 1922 U.S. In the end there was no trial because Hecht and Smith entered a plea of nolo contendere. Friends and colleagues didn’t want to be bothered. The co-conspirators were arrested and indicted for sending obscene material through the U.S. The plan was to send review copies of Mallare to all of the literary stars of the time, and then have Darrow call these people as expert witnesses at the trial. The famous Clarence Darrow was to have been their attorney. Hecht also intended to enter a million-dollar civil suit for defamation of character against John Sumner and his infamous Society for the Suppression of Vice if Sumner attacked his book. They wanted to challenge federal obscenity laws and have a grand show trial in order to sway public opinion. Hard-boiled Chicago journalist Ben Hecht and dirty doodler Wallace Smith went to a great deal of trouble to have themselves convicted of obscenity for producing the inflammatory decadent novel Fantazius Mallare.

Fantazius mallare a mysterious oath