Re: Re: the oldest of the old

Heh...Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" would be appropriate here...it's in a collection called _Illuminations_ if you haven't read it.

Thanks for tracking that image down, Kim.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: Kim Johnson <haikux2@yahoo.com>
To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:58:52 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: the oldest of the old

will, i guess if 'the young folks' came out in print
*before* 'go see eddie', (even though the latter was
submitted and accepted for publication first) the book
dealer could still advertise the issue of 'story' as
salinger's first appearance in print. (?)

needless to say, the number of zeroes rare book
dealers tack on to their prices is dependent upon what
the collectors are willing to pay (or what dealers
*think* they will pay). and naturally, an author's
first appearance in print, or first book, or the
ultimate publication (first book inscribed to the
dedicatee), seems to call for an additional zero.

in a sense, the relics of saint jerome are being
offered for sale. the reading text is usually
available quite cheaply; it's the 'collectibles'
aspect--the touching of the hem--one is purchasing.

and i as much as the next smuck salivate over dealer
catalogues. BUT the real experience was with the
first copy of the author's work--in many cases a
library copy, or a modest, mundane paperback copy,
xxth printing, scuffed and dogearred and perhaps
stained from sloppy munching--*that* copy is the one
one should hold to one's heart, that copy is the
priceless copy.

kim
--- Will Hochman <hochmanw1@southernct.edu> wrote:
> Kim, you are right about publication dates but I
> believe "Go See
> Eddie" was sent out and accepted by "The Young
> Folks." I can't find
> it now, but I remember a short article by French in
> an academic
> journal about "finding' "Go See Eddie" after it had
> gone unnoticed in
> the scholarship for so long.
>
> will
> --
> Will Hochman
>
> Associate Professor of English
> Southern Connecticut State University
> 501 Crescent St, New Haven, CT 06515
> 203 392 5024
>
> http://www.southernct.edu/~hochman/willz.html
>
>
>
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Received on Thu Dec 5 19:16:39 2002