August « 2009 « History Rhymes

20Aug/090

Graduate schools for American history?

So the time has come when I need to start looking into graduate schools. This upcoming academic year will be my last as an undergraduate. I am certainly more than ready to move on.

I've been looking into some different graduate schools around the US. A couple of my favorites so far have been the University of Missouri and Missouri State University. One reason those two have stood out is because the history faculty has research areas which pertain to my interests. Another reason is that Missouri is bursting with interesting 19th century history. Missouri has a lot of unique history in that time period from having been a border state during the Civil War and being the point from which settlers in the West would "jump off."

Although I like the two universities in Missouri, I would like to know which universities any of my readers might recommend for 19th century US history. Any suggestions?

Tagged as: Graduate schools No Comments

18Aug/090

George Custer on the Origins of the Indians

George Armstrong Custer

It is really quite amazing to read through some of the theories produced during the 19th century about the origin of the Native Americans. As I talked about in my last post, I am currently reading the memoirs of George Custer about his life on the plains and his personal experiences with the Indians.

The second chapter in the book Custer uses to paint a picture of some of the various theories of his time on the origins of the Native Americans. He briefly mentions the most widely accepted theory today: they were migratory groups that followed the game into North America from eastern Asia over a land bridge between modern day Russia and Alaska. A couple of other theories he briefly mentions is that they came directly from Africa and that they are simply autochthonous.

Although he briefly mentions these, he spends most of the chapter discussing and giving proofs for a theory in which the Indians are directly descended from the Hebrews. He argues that scientists during his time period had gathered enough behavioral evidence from the Indians to prove that this theory is the most probable. One such proof was that a scientist studying the origins of the Native Americans "once heard an Indian apply the following expression to a culprit: 'Tschi kaksit canaba' -- 'Thou art like unto a Canaanite sinner.'"¹

I find this theory to be quite ridiculous. All of the evidence Custer provides is merely circumstantial and behavioral. I have no way of proving whether or not the translation of the above quote in the Indian language is accurate or not, but I am very skeptical. One hundred and thirty years from now they may be laughing at our theories as well, but I think they are based on much more solid ground that those of one hundred and thirty years ago.

------

1. George Armstrong Custer, My Life on the Plains: Personal Experiences with the Indians (New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc, 2009), 19.

Tagged as: George Custer, Indian Origins No Comments

10Aug/090

My Life on the Plains

Last night I finished Ghost Stories of the Old West by Dan Asfar. Other than several editing mistakes (spelling, grammar, etc), the book was actually quite good. You always hear about legends and myths from Europe about haunted castles and so on, but to read the legends of some of America's own haunted places is really quite fascinating.

My Life on the Plains by George A. Custer

Now that I've treated myself to some good ol' ghost stories, it's time to get back to business. This time I've chosen to read My Life on the Plains: Personal Experiences with Indians by George Armstrong Custer of Little Bighorn fame. As of now, I've read the introduction which give a little bit of background information about Custer and about his memoirs.

Tagged as: George Armstrong Custer, Indians, Plains No Comments

4Aug/090

Ghost Stories of the Old West

Ghost Stories of the Old West edited by Dan Asfar

So I decided to take a break from reading non-fiction and treat myself to a book full of short ghost stories of the old west. The book I found is appropriately titled Ghost Stories of the Old West and is by Dan Asfar. I really haven't gotten very far into it at all; only a few pages, but so far I am really enjoying it. If you're up for some ghost stories with a Western theme, then you might want to give this book a try.

Tagged as: Fiction, Ghost Stories No Comments

1Aug/092

Hoax Played On 19th Century Rare Book Collectors

Cover of the Forstas Catalog

You don't hear about a lot of hoaxes that are as successful as this one was. A friend pointed me to an article that tells about a hoax played on a large number of 19th century rare book collectors. I've posted part of it here:

Jean Nepomucene Auguste Pichauld, Comte de Fortsas, was a man with a singular passion. He collected books of which only one copy was known to exist. If he ever discovered that one of the volumes in his library had a duplicate anywhere in the world, he would immediately dispose of it. So when he died on September 1, 1839 he possessed only fifty-two books, but each of them was absolutely unique.

His heir, not sharing the old man's passion for book collecting, arranged for an auction to sell off the library, and so a catalog of this small but highly unusual collection was mailed to bibliophiles throughout Europe. The auction, the collectors were told, was to be held in the offices of Mâitre Mourlon, notary, 9 rue de l'Église, in Binche, Belgium on August 10, 1840.

When Europe's librarians and intellectuals received the catalog, they could scarcely believe their eyes. The books would have been valuable even if duplicate copies had existed, but the fact that each one was unique made them priceless. The catalog contained detailed descriptions of the books, as well as numerous comments. A typical comment read:

A manuscript note attributes this work to Pere Felix Grebard, private secretary to the noted Huet, bishop of Avranches. This Pere Grebard is likewise the author of a very rare tragedy, 'La mort de Henry le grand,' which I have had in my collection, but of which I rid myself, having learned that Mons. J. Ketele of Audenarde had another copy of it.

On August 9, the day before the auction, the collectors descended on Binche like a pack of vultures. The Belgian government even sent an official representative, believing that the collection was so valuable that it should be bought in its entirety and kept in the country.

The rest of the article, you can read here.

Tagged as: 19th Century, Books, Collectors, Hoaxes 2 Comments

Support History Rhymes!

Support History Rhymes by paying a visit to my store on Amazon.com. There you will find books and other materials that I recommend for furthering your knowledge of American history. Help support History Rhymes and treat yourself to something interesting!

History Rhymes Store