... is purely from frustration and my reluctance to swear on line.
The problem with Henry is that I never know how far he's bending reality to his own whim (I can't say purpose since it seems unlikely that some of these lies serve no purpose at all) or if it is faulty memory or general cussedness.
Now I have another factor to deal with. It seems that his original ghost writer may have been an active participant (collaborator, victim, or dupe) in some of these events. I was curious the first time his unusual surname cropped up in the book, but it now appears that he must have been well acquainted with Henry and his friends over a long period. This makes me wonder if there is an additional agenda. Is Tash lying about Henry's lies? Is he providing further complexity to obscure other events?
Perhaps that will become more clear as I plow ahead through Tash's turgid text.
In the meantime, the problem I face is trying to find out when or if Henry married Sally Judd. All the records that I've seen suggest that Henry has her father's name wrong, her brother-in-law's name wrong, and the date wrong (child brides were not uncommon and Henry is a reprehensible person, but I still have a hard time believing that he would have married a 12-year-old or that her father would have offered her younger sister in marriage).
Another explanation for my tardy posting is that I have been getting ready for winter. I've stacked a half cord of wood, harvested from the garden ... all those little chores that come with the season.
I've also done quite a bit of reading and have a couple of recommendations for anyone interested in colonial and revolutionary history. Both of these books are surprising since they provide a significantly different view of the period. I spent much of my time going "WHAT!!", "WAITAMINNIT!", and "NO ... Really?".
The first is Eric Burns' "Infamous Scribblers". Burns explains how the lies and misrepresentations of the highly partisan colonial newspapers were just as excessive as the British government's errors in judgment and mistreatment of the colonies. It is a thick read but fascinating, witty, and delightful.
The other book is Sarah Vowell's "The Wordy Shipmates", a cheerful and nicely irreverent view of the puritan settlers. The material is based on their own writings, but Sarah does a bit of interpretation and extrapolation.
As usual there are whiny reviewers on Amazon kvetching about both of the above books, but there complaints can be summed up as "this book isn't boring enough to be history".
I recommend both of them.
OH! A word to the wise. Amazon sells a number of books that look like paperback reprints of old books but aren't. They are distinguished by their plain black and white covers and low price. In many cases there is no publisher listed.
What you get if you buy these books , at least in my experience, is a book that has been scanned in using OCR but without any quality checking or editing. This results in such horrors as
"COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE CUSTOMS"
being rendered as
"COUKTSHIP AND MAEEIAGE CUSTOMS".
Other travesties include: "An Extraordinary Cold Storm of TVind and Snow", "alchymyloralcamyne, oca- my", "New England Earities" ... but then there's my favorite:
"Dr. Uriah Rogers, Jr., of Norwalk County of Fair- field takes this method to acquaint the Publick & particularly such as are desirous of taking the Small Pox by way of Innoculation, that having had Considerable Experience in that Branch of Practice and carried on the same bet season with great Success : has lately a cited a er.$TT::eTit Hospital for thai r:tos just wtxin the Jurisdiction Ioe of the Protinee of Xew York about sine mOes distant from X. T. Harbour where he intends to ... "
Obviously the problem is enhanced by the fact that the books I use often quote heavily from colonial sources with the usual pre-Websterian ingenuity in spelling. Frustrating and irritating as these badly published books are, it is good that most of them are already properly digitized and on line.
So don't waste your money.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Small Clues
Sometimes you just need to let your curiosity loose. I'm working away at Chapter 5 when I find an assumption in the text that a person mentioned got his "just deserts" and that his comeuppance is known well enough not to be further identified. Well ... not to me.
A few minutes of research and I had my answer, and a footnote that will take up 80% of a page. A wonderful and tragic story hidden in an off-hand comment, and, if I hadn't been puzzled enough to do a tiny bit of research, I'd have missed it completely.
Further research to get a few more details revealed an odd knot of interrelationships which caught me completely by surprise. I know these communities were small, but frankly the constant reappearance of certain people is really discombobulating. The name Tash pops up far too often.
Henry's about to marry his second wife without the knowledge of, or divorce from, his first..
A few minutes of research and I had my answer, and a footnote that will take up 80% of a page. A wonderful and tragic story hidden in an off-hand comment, and, if I hadn't been puzzled enough to do a tiny bit of research, I'd have missed it completely.
Further research to get a few more details revealed an odd knot of interrelationships which caught me completely by surprise. I know these communities were small, but frankly the constant reappearance of certain people is really discombobulating. The name Tash pops up far too often.
Henry's about to marry his second wife without the knowledge of, or divorce from, his first..
Friday, September 10, 2010
Sackcloth and Ashes
I can't believe that I've let the blog lie fallow for so long. I had promised myself to update it daily, and I will try to do so from now on.
My only excuse is that I was over on the other coast for two weeks enjoying the company of children and grandchildren, telling them stories and playing while pretty much ignoring Henry. One of the stories I told will need to be written down soon, since it is entirely my own and it was quite popular with the kids.
Be that as it may, I have grown lax and must reinspire myself.
I am in the middle of Chapter 5 of the narrative and I am delighting in the fact that Henry is failing to recognize an opportunity to go straight with the assistance of a powerful businessman who thinks that Henry, the consummate liar, might make a good salesman.
I'm also in the process of writing a letter of intent that I hope will open the doors of rare book rooms, historical societies, and special collections. There is a meeting of the Salem Historical Society next week and I hope to meet some fanatics there, but most of my hopes are pinned to my requests for access to the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Public Library's Rare Book Room and a couple of other sun-sources.
As a final note tonight, someone suggested recently that I was doing a disservice to the writing since "back then everybody wrote like that". But that is not true. The florid prose of Henry's narrative was NOT common to the time. One book that is a particular favorite of mine is "The Itinerarium of Doctor Alexander Hamilton". It is the journal of his travels (1624 miles) from May to September of 1744. It is witty and intelligent but it is also simple and clear with none of the ornamentations and complications of the prose used in Henry's tome.
I stand my ground.
My only excuse is that I was over on the other coast for two weeks enjoying the company of children and grandchildren, telling them stories and playing while pretty much ignoring Henry. One of the stories I told will need to be written down soon, since it is entirely my own and it was quite popular with the kids.
Be that as it may, I have grown lax and must reinspire myself.
I am in the middle of Chapter 5 of the narrative and I am delighting in the fact that Henry is failing to recognize an opportunity to go straight with the assistance of a powerful businessman who thinks that Henry, the consummate liar, might make a good salesman.
I'm also in the process of writing a letter of intent that I hope will open the doors of rare book rooms, historical societies, and special collections. There is a meeting of the Salem Historical Society next week and I hope to meet some fanatics there, but most of my hopes are pinned to my requests for access to the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Public Library's Rare Book Room and a couple of other sun-sources.
As a final note tonight, someone suggested recently that I was doing a disservice to the writing since "back then everybody wrote like that". But that is not true. The florid prose of Henry's narrative was NOT common to the time. One book that is a particular favorite of mine is "The Itinerarium of Doctor Alexander Hamilton". It is the journal of his travels (1624 miles) from May to September of 1744. It is witty and intelligent but it is also simple and clear with none of the ornamentations and complications of the prose used in Henry's tome.
I stand my ground.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A change of coast
Since my last post, I have retrieved my computer, done a ton of research, packed up and gone to visit the opposite coast.
It is the cool of the evening in Kirkland Washington, just across the lake from Seattle. I am sitting on the back deck of my son's house after a delightful dinner. The sky is a brilliant blue and the sun's low angle highlights the leaves of the laurel, the horse-chestnut, and the Douglas fir in what Kipling might have called "more than oriental splendor." Speaking of which, my soundtrack for this post is a quiet shakuhachi rendition of "Depicting the Cranes in their Nest" (Sokaku Reibo).
My oldest granddaughter just quietly sneaked out here and, announcing that she was a ninja (not a contradiction to someone who is almost five-years-old) stole my pen. She also tried to steal a fast-food premium toy that my youngest granddaughter had carelessly forgotten in my pocket, but I was quick enough to move it out of harm's way.
I've made some progress. I have now written my way into the first part of Chapter 4 and Henry's first attempt at a major crime, I spent a good portion of the day, however, pondering the problem posed to me by the writing group I participate in.
The question has to do with the formatting of the book. The group seems split on whether my use of footnotes as an integral part of the structure will annoy or repel a significant portion of my potential readers. Half of the group seems convinced that there is a strong prejudice against footnoted text no matter how entertaining. The other half seems to think, as I do, that in this case, since the footnotes constitute a parallel narrative, people will get over it and read them anyway. I can't help but think that if people can deal with "House of Leaves" they can deal with a book that has footnotes.
On the other hand, I do want to be able to sell this book, and although HoL has a reputation as an experimental novel, the truth is that I have not seen it mentioned on many 10 best lists other than those by gleefully obscurantist hipsters.
So it looks as if I need to think about this.
My immediate reaction is to say "to hell with it ... leave it as it is." It was good enough for Sir Richard Burton's translation of "A Thousand Nights and a Night." But it isn't as if there weren't some viable alternatives, to wit:
I'm not quite sure how to solve this. It is a puzzlement.
It is the cool of the evening in Kirkland Washington, just across the lake from Seattle. I am sitting on the back deck of my son's house after a delightful dinner. The sky is a brilliant blue and the sun's low angle highlights the leaves of the laurel, the horse-chestnut, and the Douglas fir in what Kipling might have called "more than oriental splendor." Speaking of which, my soundtrack for this post is a quiet shakuhachi rendition of "Depicting the Cranes in their Nest" (Sokaku Reibo).
My oldest granddaughter just quietly sneaked out here and, announcing that she was a ninja (not a contradiction to someone who is almost five-years-old) stole my pen. She also tried to steal a fast-food premium toy that my youngest granddaughter had carelessly forgotten in my pocket, but I was quick enough to move it out of harm's way.
I've made some progress. I have now written my way into the first part of Chapter 4 and Henry's first attempt at a major crime, I spent a good portion of the day, however, pondering the problem posed to me by the writing group I participate in.
The question has to do with the formatting of the book. The group seems split on whether my use of footnotes as an integral part of the structure will annoy or repel a significant portion of my potential readers. Half of the group seems convinced that there is a strong prejudice against footnoted text no matter how entertaining. The other half seems to think, as I do, that in this case, since the footnotes constitute a parallel narrative, people will get over it and read them anyway. I can't help but think that if people can deal with "House of Leaves" they can deal with a book that has footnotes.
On the other hand, I do want to be able to sell this book, and although HoL has a reputation as an experimental novel, the truth is that I have not seen it mentioned on many 10 best lists other than those by gleefully obscurantist hipsters.
So it looks as if I need to think about this.
My immediate reaction is to say "to hell with it ... leave it as it is." It was good enough for Sir Richard Burton's translation of "A Thousand Nights and a Night." But it isn't as if there weren't some viable alternatives, to wit:
- I could increase the size of the footnote typeface to that of the text.
- I could draw a line across the page with the text on the top and the commentary on the bottom.
- I could do side notes a la The Annotated Alice.
- I could place the paragraphs of commentary immediately after that which is being commented on and in a drastically different typeface.
I'm not quite sure how to solve this. It is a puzzlement.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Sloane Ranger
I took a break from writing this morning and went out hunting. My fields were the second-hand bookstores of Newburyport and my prey was to be old magazines with useful engravings and woodcuts for my 18th and 19th century clipart files. In this, I was disappointed, but all was not lost.
Much to my delight, one of the stores had a handful of Eric Sloane books in hardcover and with plastic protective wraps over the dust jackets. They weren't cheap, but Sloane is such a blessing to people who work in subjects concerning early American life, that I didn't hesitate more than half a heartbeat before snapping all of them up. They will be the backups for the paperback versions that I have been using for so long. Some of which are tied together with twine to keep the loose pages from escaping.
Here's what I found today:
Sloane, Eric. Diary of an Early American Boy. New York: Funk & Wagnall's. 1962
Sloane, Eric. An Age of Barns. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company. 1985
Sloane, Eric. The Seasons of America Past, New York: Funk & Wagnall's. 1958
Sloane, Eric. Eric Sloane's America. New York: Promontory Press. 1982
The best of the bunch for me is his "Diary of an Early American Boy" which is a core inspiration for my project about Henry, but "Eric Sloane's America" is also great since it is three books in one: "American Barns and Covered Bridges" from 1954, "Our Vanishing Landscape" from 1955, and "American Yesterday" from 1956. This is from the book "The Seasons of America Past".
I would love to be able to illustrate the way he does, but I cannot. I will have to hope for an artist who is interested in the material, or track down some ancient woodcuts or lithographs.
... and another reference! Alice Morse Earle mentions Henry in "Stagecoach and Tavern Days".
Much to my delight, one of the stores had a handful of Eric Sloane books in hardcover and with plastic protective wraps over the dust jackets. They weren't cheap, but Sloane is such a blessing to people who work in subjects concerning early American life, that I didn't hesitate more than half a heartbeat before snapping all of them up. They will be the backups for the paperback versions that I have been using for so long. Some of which are tied together with twine to keep the loose pages from escaping.
Here's what I found today:
Sloane, Eric. Diary of an Early American Boy. New York: Funk & Wagnall's. 1962
Sloane, Eric. An Age of Barns. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company. 1985
Sloane, Eric. The Seasons of America Past, New York: Funk & Wagnall's. 1958
Sloane, Eric. Eric Sloane's America. New York: Promontory Press. 1982
I would love to be able to illustrate the way he does, but I cannot. I will have to hope for an artist who is interested in the material, or track down some ancient woodcuts or lithographs.
... and another reference! Alice Morse Earle mentions Henry in "Stagecoach and Tavern Days".
Friday, August 6, 2010
Curiouser and Curiouser ...
... as Alice might have exclaimed. I have just, this morning, found two books that mention Henry. The first is in a book that is still in print:
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. The Age of Homespun. New York: Vintage, 2002
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. The Age of Homespun. New York: Vintage, 2002
Ulrich, also known for the wonderful "A Midwife's Tale" uses material from Henry's account of his meeting with Molly Ockett and his two year stay with the Abenaki.
A somewhat more serendipitous discovery occurred as I was sorting some of the books that I've retrieved from my father's library. One of them, a slightly battered octavo bound in dark red buckram, turned out to be:
Charles Hamilton, ed. Men of the Underworld. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1952
Chapter 1 of this book is "The Adventure of the Drugged Grooms" (Henry Tufts, Horse Thief). If you'd like to read it, I linked to the digital version of the book in Questia.
The funny thing was that I was sorting books to get away from Henry for a while.
I notice that my father bought it second-hand. He paid $2.50 for it, and judging by the handwriting used for the price, I'm guessing that he bought it from the Starr Bookshop which used to live underneath the Harvard Lampoon Building just outside Harvard Square. This might sound funny to folks in the age of Amazon, but those of us who love second hand bookstores quickly learned the various booksellers' codes and handwriting. At least a dozen books on my shelves have this particular handwriting on their flyleaves.
Another clue, of course, is that someone has written "Frank Monahan" in neat but childlike script about three quarters of an inch high using a fat-nibbed pen dipped in grass-green ink.
You can take yer damned kindle and its sterile interface.
Great good cheer!
One of the things that I've been meaning to do is find a copy of the original 1807 edition of the book.
It's not that I don't trust Edmund Pearson's instincts and editorial judgment, it's just ... well ... I always get a better feel for something if I have a more direct experience.
So I'm really happy today!
A few days ago Sara(h?) one of the reference librarians at my town's temple of words told me about how to get electronic access to a larger libraries databases. One of their databases contained a high-resolution scan of the book! SCORE!!
I still intend to travel to Boston's Rare Book Room or the American Antiquarian Society to actually lay hands on a copy (even if only through thin cotton gloves). One of the two is Thomas Higginson's personal copy. (I'll be speaking more about him later.)
Through the good auspices of a Boston reference librarian, I may have found one of the rare copies of "The Compendium of Tufts Kinsmen: a Substitutive Genealogy by Herbert Freeman Adams." at the Malden Public Library. Since it is listed as “In Library Use Only”, It sounds like a short road-trip is in my near future.
Speaking of which ... I am seriously considering an extended road trip to visit all the towns in which Henry stayed, stole, was jailed, or got married. I'd send out letters to the historical societies and libraries requesting access, and then just parallel his journeys. It seems like it would be an interesting trip; reading "then", seeing "now".
I've been meaning to do the same for another history project, but the subject of that one was more sedentary and I guess it just doesn't have the same appeal as tracing the vagabond.
It's not that I don't trust Edmund Pearson's instincts and editorial judgment, it's just ... well ... I always get a better feel for something if I have a more direct experience.
So I'm really happy today!
A few days ago Sara(h?) one of the reference librarians at my town's temple of words told me about how to get electronic access to a larger libraries databases. One of their databases contained a high-resolution scan of the book! SCORE!!
I still intend to travel to Boston's Rare Book Room or the American Antiquarian Society to actually lay hands on a copy (even if only through thin cotton gloves). One of the two is Thomas Higginson's personal copy. (I'll be speaking more about him later.)
Through the good auspices of a Boston reference librarian, I may have found one of the rare copies of "The Compendium of Tufts Kinsmen: a Substitutive Genealogy by Herbert Freeman Adams." at the Malden Public Library. Since it is listed as “In Library Use Only”, It sounds like a short road-trip is in my near future.
Speaking of which ... I am seriously considering an extended road trip to visit all the towns in which Henry stayed, stole, was jailed, or got married. I'd send out letters to the historical societies and libraries requesting access, and then just parallel his journeys. It seems like it would be an interesting trip; reading "then", seeing "now".
I've been meaning to do the same for another history project, but the subject of that one was more sedentary and I guess it just doesn't have the same appeal as tracing the vagabond.
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