The Government has blocked the export of the copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover used by the judge in the landmark obscenity trial over DH Lawrence's controversial novel.
The vivid descriptions of sex in the book led to publisher Penguin Books becoming the subject of an obscenity trial in 1960: a watershed moment for censorship and sexual attitudes in the UK.
And an annotated copy of the book used by judge Sir Laurence Byrne in the trial was today stopped from going abroad.
It had been sold for £56,250 to an anonymous overseas bidder at a Sotheby's auction in October last year.
But the government’s intervention has halted the sale for several months to see whether a buyer can be found to keep it in the country.
Arts minister Michael Ellis said: "The trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover captured the public attention in 1960.
"It was a watershed moment in cultural history, when Victorian ideals were overtaken by a more modern attitude.
"I hope that a buyer can be found to keep this important part of our nation's history in the UK."
Lawrence's work was released in France and Italy in 1928, two years before his death, but was not openly published in the UK for fear of prosecution over its explicit content.
After Penguin was found not guilty in the trial, Lady Chatterley's Lover sold three million copies. It is thought to have been a liberalising moment on the cusp of the Swinging Sixties.
