Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2005 Issue
James Cummins Features Two Centuries of Literature
A first edition of Uncle Remus.
Those who were initially convinced of the authenticity of William Ireland's documents began to question. Finally, just days before the play was to open, Edmond Malone, the foremost Shakespearean scholar of the day, published an attack on the authenticity of the Ireland collection. The play would open, but run for only one day. It was not up to the level of work expected of Shakespeare. Samuel Ireland would fight back. Item 83 is his An Investigation of Mr. Malone's Claim to the Character of Scholar, or Critic, Being an Examination of his Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Shakespeare Manuscripts, &c. It was too late. William broke down and admitted it all, taking full responsibility to save his father from humiliation. It is still a question whether Samuel was entirely duped or an active participant, some believing that William could not have pulled off the fraud for so long without the knowledge of Shakespeare possessed by his father. This book stands today as a monument to either Samuel Ireland's foolishness or dishonesty, or perhaps a little of each. $1,500.
Joel Chandler Harris was a product of the transition from antebellum to post-Reconstruction South, and ultimately that may be the best description of him. In 1881 he published his first Uncle Remus book, Uncle Remus His Songs and His Sayings The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation. These are tales told by an old, former slave, and Harris styled himself as a transcriber, not creator of them. The stories of Bre'r Rabbit, Bre'r Fox, all told in a dialect meant to emulate that of the slaves, is at times almost incomprehensible to others. As for Harris, some see him as hostile to aspirations of Blacks, putting them down in his stories. Others see the intelligence and cleverness of characters who were otherwise held down as a sign of sympathy. Harris' motives remain unclear, but he may simply have been someone attempting to tell amusing stories and preserve a bit of a dying culture, that culture viewed through the eyes of Southern whites who were unlikely to see it as being equal to their own. Harris was a product of his times. Item 39 is a first edition, first state of Uncle Remus in practically new condition. $5,500. Item 40 is a copy of the first edition, second state, also from 1881. $1,500.
James Cummins Bookseller may be found online at www,jamescumminsbookseller.com, or contacted by telephone at 212-688-6441.
