The Battle for " Fanny Hill " London Mr Ralph Gold of London booksellers G Gold & Sons Ltd arriving at Bow Street Magistrates Court London this morning for the opening of the case in which he is being summoned to show why copies of the book " Fanny Hill - Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure " should not be forfeited The book which has been the centre of controversy for two centuries was written in 1750 by John Cleland a British Consul and official of the East India Company It tells of the amorous adventures of a girl in the bawdy house of London in the 18th century The prosecution follows the seizure by police last November of some 20000 copies of the book on the eve of its publication from the printers 20th January 1964