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(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)
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Focusing on literary forgeries, he enlightens us to both the motives and the methods used by nine talented if devious men: George Psalamanzar, James Macpherson, Thomas Chatterton, Willim-Henry Ireland, John Payne Collier, George Gordon Byron, Vrain-Denis Lucas, Thomas James Wiese and Mark William Hoffman. While Rosenblum acknowledges that most of them worked for financial gain, the other complicated motives, fooling colleagues with whom they had grudges, manufacturing evidence to support a critical thesis, and just seeing if it could be done, make for interesting reading. I was especially fascinated with the first story in the book as George Psalamanzar manufactured 'information' about China and Formosa at t time when little actual information was available in Europe.
As a Sinologist by training, I have been much fascinated by early travel accounts of Europeans in the far East whose worldviews limited them interpreting the evidence before them in very peculiar ways.like the British who compared the 'red Indian's' to the Irish in the 18th and 19th centuries. George must have seem just as valid to his readers and auditors as many of those actual travelers, even though he had never left England. Rosenblum's introduction places these rogues in the context of other famous forgers, "From Antiquity to 1700", and reminds us that the current, financially-motivated reasons for forgery are time-bound. We think of literature too much as a financial property to really understand historical views of this activity such as 1) that it takes a great deal of talent to forge Shakespearean dramas such as did Ireland and Collier or to forge something in Ancient Greek or Latin that will be convincing to educated scholars. 2) That for many eras and civilizations plagiarism and forgery were considered a kind of compliment and the literary text was not separated from history, philosophy and other 'belles lettres' until very recently in the history of civilization.
While entertaining to read, then, Rosenblum's book is also extremely interesting and full of insights on the nature of authentication and the literary text. It should be required reading in library schools and graduate literary programs, and, I think, would be more useful and educational than many of the critical works that make up reading lists for MA's and Ph.D.s in our universities.
Jan Bogstad, Reviewer
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Many books centre on the Lancaster County (PA) Amish. This book centres on the Amish of Ohio, which has the most Amish of any state, without forgetting the other regions. This is not a guide detailing the specific sites of interest, however it does offer very useful information for the serious tourist. For example, if the store sign says ÒAmishÓ you can be sure the operator is not Amish. The book also reminds us that the details of Amish clothing and practice vary somewhat from district to district, thus avoiding the error of oversimplification often found in other books.
Those looking for a picture book should look elsewhere. The pictures (b/w) are interesting and useful, but often not of exceptional quality (the cover photos are excellent). With respect to the Amish sensitivity, there are no facial close-ups of Amish people. Perhaps this is another indication as to how serious tourists should behave as well.
Despite the easy read, there is a surprising amount of information in this book. The authors obviously know their sociology and the Amish but, thankfully, the book remains a guide for the general public and not a sociological study.
I am a Roman Catholic priest in rural Tmiscamingue (N-W Qubec, Canada) with a particular interest in community. I cannot pretend any direct contact with the Amish though I have shared with a Mennonite group. Other authors I would recommend : John A Hostetler and Randy-Michael Testa as well as Menno Simons for the founding theology.
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