A bit of a Hiatus

I had intended to post nearly every day, but the combination of research mania and having to conform to the library hours while my computer is held hostage by the repair company, has made for a series of "dammit I forgot again moments."

And don't think that I am complaining about the library either. Librarians are God's gift to researchers and writers. The fact that I want to work longer hours than they have librarians for is my problem. I am thankful for all the help and patience they have with me. They let me move in at opening and set up my barricades around a computer; piles of reference books, notebooks, and pads of paper topped off with my battered old straw hat as a single crenelation. Unlike the libraries of my youth, they even supply me with coffee (though I do wish that they'd dump the flavored stuff and get in some French roast).

I've run into a couple of stumbling blocks. Although I trust Edmund Pearson's assessment, I still think it behooves me to check out the original 1807 publication of the Tufts book. EP said that he'd seen it at the Boston Public Library, so I've sent off a note to them to make sure that it's still there and that I can get access. I also want to find a copy of Herbert Freeman Adams' Compendium of Tufts Kinsmen, to see if he was able to fill in some of the blanks that dot the mimeographed newsletter he sent out back in the 70s and 80s. The Kinsmen organization seems to still exist, but I am still trying to track down who is running or maintaining it.

I am about to start working on Chapter 4. I have left a trail of breadcrumbs behind me in the footnotes for areas of research which would just slow me down. For example, there is the question, "how much should I assume that people know about the period?" The problem is that so much faulty information is out there. The historical record is based so much on men of substance and power and so little on the ordinary man. I really want to paint a good and comprehensive picture of the time, but at the same time I want it to be readable.

Another thing that I have to think about is that my footnotes are becoming more conversational. I think I like the idea, I don't want my readers to have to deal with dry academic information, but I can't help but be a little nervous about going too far.

That's enough for today, though. Time to start Chapter 4.