In this issue:
Tricks, rogues, games #8: Not Identified
The lamentable Alfred Austin
Tricks, rogues, games #9: An irishism
Re: The lamentable Alfred Austin
Re: The lamentable Alfred Austin
Re: The lamentable Alfred Austin
Today in History -- Sep 18
Re: The lamentable Alfred Austin
Re: Today in History -- Sep 18
HALP!
Today in History -- Sep 19
Today in History -- Sep 20
G.A. Henty bibliography
Re: G.A. Henty bibliography
Chiropractic
Henty books
Re: Henty books
Re: G.A. Henty bibliography
Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty
New movie about Gilbert and Sullivan?
Re: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty
books read in childhood
Juvenile Platonism <WAS: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty>
-----------------------------THE POSTS-----------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 09:20:56 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Tricks, rogues, games #8: Not Identified
from _Anecdotes and illustrations_ (1901)
TRICKS, ROGUES, GAMES
Not Identified. -- A miser who had lost a bag containing a hundred guineas
offered ten guineas reward for its return. A poor man who had found it brought
it to the miser and demanded the reward. The miser met the demand with the
statement that there were a hundred and ten guineas in the bag when it was lost
and that the finder must have helped himself to the reward. The case came into
court, where the miser made this statement upon oath, whereupon the judge
ordered the production of the bag, which was found to be sealed and which bore
unmistakable signs of having been sealed up long prior to the date of the loss.
The miser having sworn to the identity of the bag, the judge had the seal broken
and the money counted, and finding that it con-tained but a hundred guineas,
handed it back to the poor man, saying that as the miser's bag contained a
hundred and ten guineas that could not be his, and he, the finder, must keep it
until the rightful owner claimed it.
===0===
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 11:06:10 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: The lamentable Alfred Austin
I've been reading Frank Harris' _My life and loves_ (1920+, 1963 ed.), which
fails as autobiography, but which gives a very interesting slant on the late
Victorian times. At one point, possibly in vol. 3, he puts the lamentable
Alfred Austin in his place:
>>
It was at [Field Marshal Lord Garnet] Wolseley's house much later when he was
the Ranger at Woolwich that I made a little jest which has been attributed to
others. Alfred Austin had just been appointed Poet Laureate by Lord Salisbury,
though he had no more poetry in his composition than a house-fly. He had other
merits, however. For years he had written leading articles in the _Standard_ and
praised Lord Salisbury in and out of season. Accordingly, when Lord Tennyson
died, Lord Salisbury appointed Alfred Austin to the post: "Alfred the Little,
after Alfred the Great," as some anonymous wit declared. Of course Lord
Salisbury should have appointed Swinburne or any one of half a dozen poets
greater than this little creature, but no! He appointed his eulogist — a
disgraceful outrage on English poetry, the gravity of which he was incapable
even of understanding.
I had met Austin often and thought him a mere journalist and place-hunter
without talent or personality, but this evening when we met at Wolseley's he
treated me with marked condescension. "I've known Mr. Harris," he said, "when he
was merely editor of the _Evening News_."
His tone was so high and mighty that I replied, "I hear now that you write
poetry as well as prose; which do you intend to use in the future?"
"Oh now," he replied, "I must write a certain amount of poetry."
"Why?" I replied, pretending ignorance.
"Oh, to keep the wolf from the door," he replied, smiling.
"I see," I retorted, "I see, very good: you read your poetry to the wolf, eh?"
Austin used to avoid me afterwards, but the word pleased me infinitely, perhaps,
because I was seldom witty.
<<
Stephen D.
mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
===0===
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 16:53:31 -0600 From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA Subject: Tricks, rogues, games #9: An irishism Where the original source of these anecdotes lacks charm is in its insistent mocking of stereotypes, people excluded from society. Here's a tame example of how the Irish are treated: from _Anecdotes and illustrations_ (1901) BLUNDERS, IRISHISMS Irish Highwayman. -- Driven to desperation by the strin-gency of the money market and the high price of provisions, an Irishman procured a pistol and took to the road. Meet-ing a traveler, he stopped him with: "Your money, or your life!" Seeing Pat was green, the traveler said: "I'll tell you what I'll do; I'll give you all my money for that pistol." "Agreed." Pat received the money, and handed over the pistol. "Now," said the traveler, "hand back that money, or I'll blow your brains out!" "Blaze away, me hearty!" said Pat. "Never a dhrop of powther there's in it."
===0===
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 17:03:33 -0600 (MDT) From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> Subject: Re: The lamentable Alfred Austin Despite his lamentable verse, no man can be considered bad whose self-decribed idea of heaven is to spend eternity sitting in an English garden on a fine June day, eating strawberries and cream, the while receiving a string of telegrams announcing alternately an English victory at sea, and an English victory on land... Those *were* the days - what is there now to compare with such a wonderful idea? Peter Wood
===0===
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 21:26:54 -0700
From: Jack Kolb <kolb(at)UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: The lamentable Alfred Austin
>Despite his lamentable verse, no man can be considered bad whose
>self-decribed idea of heaven is to spend eternity sitting in an English
>garden on a fine June day, eating strawberries and cream, the
>while receiving a string of telegrams announcing alternately an English
>victory at sea, and an English victory on land...
As in World War I? {grin}. This reminds me of a passage in Orwell's "Boys'
Weeklies," describing the archaic sensibility of these "twopenny weeklies"
in 1939:
The year is 1910--or 1940, but it is all the same. You are at Greyfriars,
a rosy-cheeked boy of fourteen in posh tailor-made clothes, sitting down to
tea in your study on the Remove passage after an exciting game of football
which was won by an odd goal in the last half-minute. There is a cosy fire
in the study, and outside the wind is whistling. The ivy clusters thickly
round the old grey stones. The King is on his throne and the pound is
worth a pound. Over in Europe the comic foreigners are jabbering and
gesticulating, but the grim gray battleships of the British Fleet are
steaming up the channel and at the outposts of Empire the monocled
Euglishmen are holding the natives at bay. Lord Mauleverer has just got
another fiver and we are all settling down to a tremendous tea of sausages,
sardines, crumpets, potted meat, jam and doughnuts. After tea we shall sit
round the study fire having a good laugh at Billy Bunter and discussing the
team for next week's match against Rookwood. Everything is safe, solid and
unquestionable. Everything will be the same for ever and ever. That
approximately is the atmosphere.
>Those *were* the days - what is there now to compare with such a wonderful
>idea?
>Peter Wood
Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 21:31:13 -0700
From: "Jesse F. Knight" <jknight(at)internetcds.com>
Subject: Re: The lamentable Alfred Austin
> >Despite his lamentable verse, no man can be considered bad whose
> >self-decribed idea of heaven is to spend eternity sitting in an English
> >garden on a fine June day, eating strawberries and cream, the
> >while receiving a string of telegrams announcing alternately an English
> >victory at sea, and an English victory on land...
>
> As in World War I? {grin}. This reminds me of a passage in Orwell's
"Boys'
> Weeklies," describing the archaic sensibility of these "twopenny weeklies"
> in 1939:
>
> The year is 1910--or 1940, but it is all the same. You are at Greyfriars,
> a rosy-cheeked boy of fourteen in posh tailor-made clothes, sitting down
to
> tea in your study on the Remove passage after an exciting game of football
> which was won by an odd goal in the last half-minute. There is a cosy
fire
> in the study, and outside the wind is whistling. The ivy clusters thickly
> round the old grey stones. The King is on his throne and the pound is
> worth a pound. Over in Europe the comic foreigners are jabbering and
> gesticulating, but the grim gray battleships of the British Fleet are
> steaming up the channel and at the outposts of Empire the monocled
> Euglishmen are holding the natives at bay. Lord Mauleverer has just got
> another fiver and we are all settling down to a tremendous tea of
sausages,
> sardines, crumpets, potted meat, jam and doughnuts. After tea we shall
sit
> round the study fire having a good laugh at Billy Bunter and discussing
the
> team for next week's match against Rookwood. Everything is safe, solid
and
> unquestionable. Everything will be the same for ever and ever. That
> approximately is the atmosphere.
>
> >Those *were* the days - what is there now to compare with such a
wonderful
> >idea?
> >Peter Wood
However, I can't say that people are any happier today or that society is
better or that this is a better place to live. Yes, we have all the medical
advances, etc., that I wouldn't do without. But are we any more content or
happier than then? I frankly doubt it.
Jesse F. Knight
===0===
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 01:17:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Today in History -- Sep 18
Interesting things that happened September 18th:
Birthdays on this date:
In 1819 Jean-Bernard-L?on Foucault, his pendulum proved earth rotates
In 1895 John G. Diefenbaker (P-C), 13th Canadian PM (1957-63)
In 1905 Claudette Colbert (in Paris, France), actress (Lily Chauchoin)
+ Eddie Anderson, actor
+ Greta Garbo (in Stockholm, Sweden), actress (Ninotchka, Grand
Hotel)
Events worth noting:
In 1793 Washington lays cornerstone of Capitol building.
In 1810 Chile declares independence from Spain (National Day).
In 1851 "The New York Times" goes on sale at 2 cents a copy.
In 1882 Pacific Stock Exchange opens (as the Local Security Board).
In 1895 D.D. Palmer of Davenport, Iowa, becomes the first Chiropractor.
(Wondering if anyone knows where chiropractory comes from--a Gaslight
era therapy?)
===0===
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 22:47:28 -0700
From: Jack Kolb <kolb(at)UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: The lamentable Alfred Austin
At 09:31 PM 09/17/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>
>> >Despite his lamentable verse, no man can be considered bad whose
>> >self-decribed idea of heaven is to spend eternity sitting in an
English
>> >garden on a fine June day, eating strawberries and cream, the
>> >while receiving a string of telegrams announcing alternately an
English
>> >victory at sea, and an English victory on land...
>>
>> As in World War I? {grin}. This reminds me of a passage in Orwell's
>"Boys'
>> Weeklies," describing the archaic sensibility of these "twopenny
weeklies"
>> in 1939:
>>
>> The year is 1910--or 1940, but it is all the same. You are at
Greyfriars,
>> a rosy-cheeked boy of fourteen in posh tailor-made clothes, sitting
down
>to
>> tea in your study on the Remove passage after an exciting game of
football
>> which was won by an odd goal in the last half-minute. There is a cosy
>fire
>> in the study, and outside the wind is whistling. The ivy clusters
thickly
>> round the old grey stones. The King is on his throne and the pound is
>> worth a pound. Over in Europe the comic foreigners are jabbering and
>> gesticulating, but the grim gray battleships of the British Fleet are
>> steaming up the channel and at the outposts of Empire the monocled
>> Euglishmen are holding the natives at bay. Lord Mauleverer has just
got
>> another fiver and we are all settling down to a tremendous tea of
>sausages,
>> sardines, crumpets, potted meat, jam and doughnuts. After tea we shall
>sit
>> round the study fire having a good laugh at Billy Bunter and discussing
>the
>> team for next week's match against Rookwood. Everything is safe, solid
>and
>> unquestionable. Everything will be the same for ever and ever. That
>> approximately is the atmosphere.
>>
>> >Those *were* the days - what is there now to compare with such a
>wonderful
>> >idea?
>> >Peter Wood
>
>
>However, I can't say that people are any happier today or that society is
>better or that this is a better place to live. Yes, we have all the medical
>advances, etc., that I wouldn't do without. But are we any more content or
>happier than then? I frankly doubt it.
>
>Jesse F. Knight
I'm not sure whether you're responding to me, Jesse, or Peter, or both.
I'd just add that Orwell's point is that this is a never-never land: it
never existed. And that I think is true of all except for the wealthiest
and most insulated classes in England (or any other society) at the turn of
the century. (Gad: I won't be able to use that phrase much longer {grin}.)
Have you seen Ken Russell's film of D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love?
Execrable in some ways, but it very nicely, with a series of images, brings
home the horrific base of mostly frivilous lives of these
near-contemporaries of Austin.
Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu
===0===
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 08:17:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Re: Today in History -- Sep 18 Event... Rebel, poet Anne Hutchinson arrived in Boston, 1634. smiling, phoebe
===0===
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 18:43:03 -0400 (EDT) From: ex875(at)CLEVELAND.FREENET.EDU (Lila P. Bess) Subject: HALP! Hey, Group, I've been trying to get my messages to go to my new service and nothing seems to work! Can anybody HALP! The new address is: lilabess(at)compuserve.com Thanks, L - -- p
===0===
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 01:47:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Today in History -- Sep 19
Interesting things that happened September 19th:
Birthdays on this date:
In 1901 Joseph Pasternak, film producer
In 1907 Lewis F. Powell, Jr, former US Supreme Court justice
In 1911 William Golding, English novelist (Lord of the Flies) (Nobel 1983)
In 1914 Rogers Morton, politician
In 1919 Blanche Thebom, mezzo-soprano
Events worth noting:
+ Feast of St. Januarius and his companions, martyrs
In 1812 Napoleon's retreat from Russia begins.
In 1848 Bond (U.S.) and Lassell (England) independently discover Hyperion.
In 1849 First commercial laundry established, in Oakland, California.
In 1862 Battle of Luka, Miss.
In 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia (first day); Union forces retreat.
In 1864 Third Battle of Winchester, Virginia.
In 1873 Black Friday: Jay Cooke and Co. fails, causing a securities panic.
In 1881 President Garfield dies of gunshot wound.
(How little things seem to change: Garfield's assassin was a madman with a
grudge and the willingness to seek a violent revenge. At his
trial, he also had a bevy of female admirers--though, from the pictures
I've seen, he was a pretty homely fellow--and a penchant for playing to
the press.
Some criminals seem to be driven by the desire to become
famous. Milton calls the love of fame "the last infirmity of noble
minds." But for the life of me I can't see why anyone would want it.)
===0===
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 01:21:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Today in History -- Sep 20
Interesting things that happened September 20th:
Birthdays on this date:
In 1833 Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian journalist (Nobel Peace Prize 1907)
In 1878 Upton Sinclair, novelist (Jungle)
In 1885 Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, jazz pianist, composer, singer
In 1920 Alexander Thereat
Events worth noting:
In 1797 US frigate "Constitution" (Old Ironsides) launched in Boston.
In 1850 Slave trade abolished in DC, but slavery allowed to continue.
In 1854 British and French defeat Russians at Alma, in the Crimea.
In 1859 Patent granted on the electric range.
In 1860 The Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII, becomes the
first British royalty to visit the United States.
In 1863 Civil War Battle of Chickamauga, near Chattanooga, Tenn, ended.
In 1879 U. S. Grant and his wife travels to San Francisco for elaborate
extended visit.
In 1884 Equal Rights Party founding convention in San Francisco, nominates
female candidates for President, Vice President.
In 1911 Yanks set team record 12 errors in a double header.
===0===
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 08:51:41 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: G.A. Henty bibliography
Here's my germ of a bibliography for G.A. Henty, an author who will appear on
Gaslight in the next few weeks. I'm surprised that I can't find a comprehensive
list of his books for boys (over 90), altho I see there is a reprint house in
Pennsylvania, called PrestonSpeed, which is reissuing the novels because of
their historical instructional value.
I'm getting more titles from that website, but if anyone can add to my biblio.
either with more titles or dates, please let me know.
I also heard that Henty collaborated with William Clark Russell. Does anyone
know the details of that?
Stephen
mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
George Alfred HENTY (1832 - 1902)
Among Malay Pirates: A tale of adventure and peril (# actually various short
stories)
Beric the Briton: A story of the Roman invasion (# 61 A.D., invasion of Britain
by the Roman legionaries)
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Boy Knight, The: A tale of the crusade
Bravest of the Brave, The (1887)
By England's Aid
By Pike and Dyke (1890)
By Right of Conquest (1891)
By Sheer Pluck
Captain Bayley's Heir
Cat of Bubastes, The: A tale of ancient Egypt (1889)
Col. Thorndyke's Secret (# London detective tracks stolen Hindu jewels, c. 1800;
unusual foray into pure fiction)
Cornet of Horse, The: A tale of Marlborough's wars
Dragon and the Raven
Facing Death (1883)(# coal-mining in Wales)
Final Reckoning, A
For Name and Fame
For the Temple: A tale of the fall of Jerusalem (# conquest of Jerusalem by the
Romans in A.D. 70)
Friends Though Divided
Golden Canon, The
Held Fast for England
In Freedom's Cause
In the Heart of the Rockies
In the Reign of Terror
In Times of Peril
Jack Archer.
Lion of St. Mark, The.
Lion of the North, The
Lost Heir, The
Maori and Settler
One of the 28th.
Orange and Green (1888)
Out on the Pampas (1868)
Redskin and Cowboy (aka Tale of the Western Plains, A)
Roving Commission, A
Rujub, the Juggler (#about the Sepoy Mutiny in India, 1857 - 59)
St. Bartholomew's Eve
St. George for England
Sturdy and Strong
Tale of the Western Plains, A (aka Redskin and Cowboy)
Through the Fray
Treasure of the Incas, The
True to the Old Flag
Under Drake's Flag
With Clive in India (1884)
With Lee in Virginia
With Wolfe in Canada: The winning of a continent (# leading up to the Battle of
the Plains of Abraham,
Young Buglers, The (1880)
Young Carthaginian, The: A story of the times of Hannibal (# Punic Wars)
Young Colonists, The : A story of the Zulu and Boer Wars
Young Franc-Tireurs, The
Young Midshipman, The
(Non-fiction)
March to Magdala The
March to Coomasie, The
===0===
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 10:04:38 -0500 From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu> Subject: Re: G.A. Henty bibliography There's apparently another publisher, Lost Books, who has reprinted at least one Hentry, With Lee in Virginia. It appears, alas, to be the only one of his books which actually CIRCULATES at St. Louis Public. Wah! I wanted to read A Cat of Bubastes! Kiwi
===0===
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 10:19:02 -0500 From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu> Subject: Chiropractic > In 1895 D.D. Palmer of Davenport, Iowa, becomes the first >Chiropractor. >(Wondering if anyone knows where chiropractory comes from--a Gaslight >era therapy?) "Chiropractic" is the correct term, Bob. And yes, it was invented then, by Dr. Palmer himself. Brittanica says, "the chiropractic method was founded in 1895 by an Iowa merchant, D.D. Palmer, who reportedly cured deafness in one individual by realigning a misaligned vertebrae.". Kiwi
===0===
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 12:10:46 -0400 From: Linda Anderson <lpa1(at)ptdprolog.net> Subject: Henty books Stephen: Wow! the books by Henty sound great! Do you have any more info on the publishing house (Preston Speed) as to when the books will be available? Linda who lives in Pennsylvania but never heard of PrestonSpeed
===0===
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 10:34:08 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Re: Henty books
- --0__=DSrfSw8XI51OdWWSRG5DxKw0ixqwats1SnRCEUVh7Ih22yJW426fYZjJ
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
Linda, many of the Henty books are available now. Check out this URL or try
this address for more information:
http://prestonspeed.com/index.html
Contact information
PrestonSpeed Publications
RR#4 Box 705
Mill Hall, PA 17751
(570) 726-7844
preston(at)cub.kcnet.org
Yes, Kiwi, _Cat of Bubastes_ is available from PrestonSpeed:
(Quote)
The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt special
foreword by Douglas Wilson
harcover $20.00 (U.S.)
softcover $13.95 (U.S.)
In availing himself of the pictured records of Egyptian life and
history, Mr. Henty has produced a story which will give
young readers an unsurpassed insight into the customs of one
of the greatest of ancient peoples. Amuba, a prince of the
Rebu nation on the shores of the Caspian, is carried with his
charioteer Jethro into slavery. They become inmates of the
house of Ameres, the Egyptian high-priest, and are happy in
his service until the priest
- --0__=DSrfSw8XI51OdWWSRG5DxKw0ixqwats1SnRCEUVh7Ih22yJW426fYZjJ
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
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?s son accidentally kills the sacred
cat of Bubastes. In an outburst of popular fury Ameres =
is
killed, and it rests with Jethro and Amuba to secure th=
e
escape of the high-priest?s son and daughter. After man=
y
dangers they succeed in crossing the desert to the Red =
Sea,
and eventually making their way to the Caspian.
(End quote)
Stephen D
mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
=
- --0__=DSrfSw8XI51OdWWSRG5DxKw0ixqwats1SnRCEUVh7Ih22yJW426fYZjJ--
===0===
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 13:09:24 -0400
From: "John D. Squires" <jdsbooks(at)ameritech.net>
Subject: Re: G.A. Henty bibliography
Stephen,
Just in from George Locke's Ferret Fantasy, 27 Beechcroft Rd,
Upper Tooting, London, SW17 7BX, UK, is catalogue 22, Autumn,
1999. In addition to a selection of items from the Moskowitz auction
last June is item #98, a partially bound set of sheets from the first
edition of G. A. Henty's "For the Name and Fame: or, Through
the Afghan Passes", London: Blackie & Son, 1886, for a mere 225 pounds.
Got your checkbook out yet?
Best in haste,
John Squires
sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA wrote:
> Here's my germ of a bibliography for G.A. Henty, an author who will appear
on
> Gaslight in the next few weeks. I'm surprised that I can't find a
comprehensive
> list of his books for boys (over 90), altho I see there is a reprint house
in
> Pennsylvania, called PrestonSpeed, which is reissuing the novels because of
> their historical instructional value.
>
> I'm getting more titles from that website, but if anyone can add to my
biblio.
> either with more titles or dates, please let me know.
>
> I also heard that Henty collaborated with William Clark Russell. Does
anyone
> know the details of that?
>
> Stephen
> mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
>
> George Alfred HENTY (1832 - 1902)
>
> Among Malay Pirates: A tale of adventure and peril (# actually various
short
> stories)
> Beric the Briton: A story of the Roman invasion (# 61 A.D., invasion of
Britain
> by the Roman legionaries)
> Bonnie Prince Charlie
> Boy Knight, The: A tale of the crusade
> Bravest of the Brave, The (1887)
> By England's Aid
> By Pike and Dyke (1890)
> By Right of Conquest (1891)
> By Sheer Pluck
> Captain Bayley's Heir
> Cat of Bubastes, The: A tale of ancient Egypt (1889)
> Col. Thorndyke's Secret (# London detective tracks stolen Hindu jewels, c.
1800;
> unusual foray into pure fiction)
> Cornet of Horse, The: A tale of Marlborough's wars
> Dragon and the Raven
> Facing Death (1883)(# coal-mining in Wales)
> Final Reckoning, A
> For Name and Fame
> For the Temple: A tale of the fall of Jerusalem (# conquest of Jerusalem by
the
> Romans in A.D. 70)
> Friends Though Divided
> Golden Canon, The
> Held Fast for England
> In Freedom's Cause
> In the Heart of the Rockies
> In the Reign of Terror
> In Times of Peril
> Jack Archer.
> Lion of St. Mark, The.
> Lion of the North, The
> Lost Heir, The
> Maori and Settler
> One of the 28th.
> Orange and Green (1888)
> Out on the Pampas (1868)
> Redskin and Cowboy (aka Tale of the Western Plains, A)
> Roving Commission, A
> Rujub, the Juggler (#about the Sepoy Mutiny in India, 1857 - 59)
> St. Bartholomew's Eve
> St. George for England
> Sturdy and Strong
> Tale of the Western Plains, A (aka Redskin and Cowboy)
> Through the Fray
> Treasure of the Incas, The
> True to the Old Flag
> Under Drake's Flag
> With Clive in India (1884)
> With Lee in Virginia
> With Wolfe in Canada: The winning of a continent (# leading up to the
Battle
of
> the Plains of Abraham,
> Young Buglers, The (1880)
> Young Carthaginian, The: A story of the times of Hannibal (# Punic Wars)
> Young Colonists, The : A story of the Zulu and Boer Wars
> Young Franc-Tireurs, The
> Young Midshipman, The
>
> (Non-fiction)
> March to Magdala The
> March to Coomasie, The
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 14:03:30 -0400 From: Linda Anderson <lpa1(at)ptdprolog.net> Subject: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty >From the 'Reviews' section of the webpage: > >> VICTORIAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS GAIN LATTER-DAY FOLLOWING >> >> by Julia Duin >> >> Parents are snapping up books from the 19th century that tout traditional >values, good breeding, modesty and courage, >> especially swashbuckling yarns written by Victorian boys' book author G.A. >Henty. >> >> They sell in the thousands each month, an impressive clip for children's >book sales. >> >> "Books written in the 1880s and 1890s had compound, complex sentences. >They assume the reader will think for a moment," >> says Don Reisler of Jo Ann Reisler Ltd., a Vienna, Va.-based specialist in >old children's books. >> >> "As you work your way through the 20th century, you saw the dumbing down >of children's books and the conscious decision >> to take away any demands on readers. The classics weren't easy, but they >were rich. Books used to place demands on you; >> that was the excitement of reading and thinking." >> >> Other late 19th-century and early 20th-century children's books -- >featuring Tom Swift, the Little Colonel, Horatio Alger and >> the Hardy Boys -- are also hot. Michael Farris, president of the Home >School Legal Defense Association, calls the return to >> such classics the "No. 1 trend" in home schooling. >> >> "The Henty books have helped reflect the thinking of Western >civilization," he said. "Children are also reading Plato, 'City of >> God' by St. Augustine, and getting truly a classical education." >> >> George Albert Henty, born in 1832 and died in 1902, penned 144 books >suffused with that era's high moral expectations. >> Eighty of them are his boys' books, mostly stories about teen-age >protagonists who find themselves embroiled in such >> 19th-century conflicts as the Boxer Rebellion and the Crimean and >Turko-Serbian Wars. >> >> "For the Temple," a book about the conquest of Jerusalem by the Romans in >A.D. 70., caught the attention of Preston >> Speed, a small publisher in Mill Hall, Pa. >> >> "I'm a home-schooling mother," says co-owner Bev Schmitt, "and when I saw >some of the history books available, I was not >> pleased. A few were acceptable but by the time you got to adolescence, >there's nothing there that's of quality." >> >> She and her husband, Doug, found out about Henty, whose books sold in the >millions in Britain and the United States a >> century ago. They devoured his books, discovering there just the right >kind of hero: the dashing and manly 19th-century lad >> full of pluck, loyalty and patriotism. >> >> "A Henty hero is a cross between a John Wayne and an Errol Flynn," Mrs. >Schmitt says. "All the girls want to marry >> someone like that. We have dads and sons arguing who gets to read Hentys >first." >> >> Preston Speed published "In [For] the Temple" in April 1995. It sold so >well that they followed up with several more, then >> set up a World Wide Web site (www.prestonspeed.com) with a Henty bulletin >board. A Henty chat room is in the works. >> The site, she says, gets 1,000 hits a day and the books are selling at a >rate of several thousand a month to readers ages of all >> ages in several countries. >> >> "The stories are excellent," she says. "There's a dearth of good >literature on the market and the area that's really selling is the >> alternative education movement. They can't get them fast enough. This is >history -- not rewritten history or politically correct >> history, but real history." >> >> ... The older Henty editions are collector's items. One of the country's >top collectors, Truman Holland, 55, a real estate >> consultant in Alexandria, Va., says originals usually sell for $500 to >$800 but have been auctioned off for as much as $1,600. >> >> "The fact these have [not] been published for 100 years is phenomenal," he >says. "The stories are exciting. They're always >> about boys 16 to 18 years old who see history taking place, who get >involved in some military action, and there's always a lot >> of high morals talked about. The hero always married the squire's daughter >and was in the landed gentry by the time he was >> 23." >> >> As television and radio didn't exist a century ago, children had to rely >on Henty's tales of the Napoleonic wars, the French >> Revolution or the Battle of Hastings to get a flesh-and-blood rendition of >great events. Young teen-agers could easily imagine >> themselves going off to war alongside one of Henty's heroes. >> >> Mr. Holland, who owns 350 Hentys, had read Tom Swift books as a boy before >he latched onto other boys' books of the >> period. The mid-to-late 1800s saw a flowering of children's books series, >featuring Civil War-era heroines such as Elsie >> Dinsmore and Lloyd Sherman, the Little Colonel, followed by >turn-of-the-century heroines such as Patty Fairfield, Beverly >> Gray and, later, Nancy Drew. >> >> "I'm 58 years old, and I adore them," says Connie Dunham, a Harriman, >Tenn., accountant who retails Henty books and >> edits Quit You Like Men, a magazine for boys. "So does my 17-year-old son. >Home-schoolers are snapping them up like >> crazy because the history is not revisionist history, it's accurate. >They're such good books to read." >> >> Henty sales, she said, average around 2,000 books a month. >> >> R.J. Rushdoony, 82, an evangelical Christian leader from Vallecito, >Calif., read Henty books as a boy and recommends them >> to parishioners of his church for their courtliness and morality. >> >> "I was concerned about good reading for my children," says Michael >Spragge, a church member from Livermore, Calif. "I'm >> interested in books written in the 1800s because the grammar and quality >were better then. Kids begin to think like they read. >> I don't want them reading this bubble-gum stuff. >> >> "When one of my daughters began reading 'Little House on the Prairie,' she >started talking like Laura Ingalls Wilder," the >> father of nine said. "I thought, if they are going to be talking like >these books, they might as well be reading good ones." >> >> Joanna Manasejian, of Murphys, Calif., says the books offer a model of >masculinity that boys will pick up on. "They have all >> the good manly traits, like kindness," she says. "They are very good >character lessons for people." >> >> "There were norms back then," Mr. Reisler says. "There were expectations >of behavior. People acted in proper ways and >> were concerned with doing the right thing. The home-schoolers had to go >back a century [to find this] because there's nothing >> good being written today." >> >> Utica, N.Y., children's book collector John T. Dizer attributes the Henty >boom in part to nostalgia and in part to parents' >> realizing that children think along the lines of the books they read. >> >> "It's the books kids read, not the ones they are supposed to read, that >influences their thoughts and motivations," he says. "I >> always thought Tom Swift, the Little Colonel and the Bobbsey Twins books >have shaped the American ethic more than >> anyone knows." Linda Anderson
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 12:07:51 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: New movie about Gilbert and Sullivan?
Reporting from the Venice Film Festival, Studio Archives says
>>
... England's Jim Broadbent won the best actor award for his
portrayal of William Gilbert (of the Gilbert and Sullivan team) in
Topsy-Turvy.
<<
Has anyone heard buzz about this film?
Stephen D
(who's old passion, Nathalie Baye, is in a resurgence)
mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 13:28:38 -0500 From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu> Subject: Re: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty Linda Anderson wrote: >>> Linda Anderson <lpa1(at)ptdprolog.net> 09/20/99 01:03PM >>> >From the 'Reviews' section of the webpage: > >Michael Farris, president of the Home >School Legal Defense Association, calls the return to >> such classics the "No. 1 trend" in home schooling. >> >> "The Henty books have helped reflect the thinking of Western >civilization," he said. "Children are also reading Plato, 'City of >> God' by St. Augustine, and getting truly a classical education." >> I wonder what they can find in Plato that's fit/interesting enough for children to read? I certainly hope that they don't feature the Republic verbatim, or parts of the Symposium, which could be enough to frighten a sensitive, thinking child, especially a girl-child out of her or his wits. I'm not talking about monsters here, I'm talking about inequalities and assumptions about gender/class superiority. Kiwi, who has alway been afraid of philosophers.
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 13:47:15 -0500 From: athan chilton <ayc(at)UIUC.EDU> Subject: books read in childhood >>> always thought Tom Swift, the Little Colonel and the Bobbsey Twins books >>have shaped the American ethic more than >>> anyone knows." I recall my older brother being given the Tom Swift novels when we were children. Whether he read them I don't remember--but I do recall swiping them out of his room just as soon as he wasn't looking so that I could read them and read them and read them! I also had a considerable collection of the Bobbsey Twins, a copy of a novel entitled 'The Adventures of Mehitabel: A Doll' which was as good as a travelogue, and of course, besides the Louisa May Alcott books I had 'A Secret Garden' and 'Anne of Green Gables'. I loved these books and passionately wished to be 'in' them instead of where I was! Perhaps that was the beginning of my fascination with many aspects of the Victorian/post-Victorian eras? They may have died of 'consumption' and other things which, to some degree, we can arrest now--but they had a reverence for and a quality of life which we have lost, except in dreams. Haven't ever read a Henty, but I am looking forward to it! Athan (who was WAAAY too much like 'Anne' when younger!) ayc(at)uiuc.edu
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 12:58:29 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Juvenile Platonism <WAS: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty>
Kiwi,
I think Plato's allegory of the shadows on the cave wall is suitable for
all ages. It reads like a folktale.
I was wondering, tho, what Plato Victorians would have read before college.
In my reading of Frank Harris's autobiography, he tells how he learned Greek
easily (he had a phenomenal memory), but never read anything but histories.
When he was introduced to the philosophers (while a dropout cowbow in Kansas) he
was instantly enthralled.
Stephen D
mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
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End of Gaslight Digest V1 #97
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