Re: Aidennic
Posted by:
Jim Java (IP Logged)
Date: 2 August, 2003 10:36PM
[Dr. W.C. Farmer]
>Your analysis is correct - CAS would have known both sources, since
>the source appears in the "Hernia" edition of the dictionary, and
>the encyclopedia he read as a boy - It is likely that Poe knew the
>Arabic source as well, since "things eastern" were all the rage in
>the years following the discovery of the rosetta stone, and the
>development of a lively trade in antiquities - including documents
>- also probably in some commentary of Fitzgerald's on translating
>the "Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyam -- much the rage in the 19th
>century, and the subject memorizing by college boys - especially
>the stuff on drinkings - Clark and I went through the whole thing
>one night from memory while comparing old Fitz with an excellent
>"new" translation that still lies about here somewhere.
[Jim Java]
I've always assumed that Smith studied from a first-edition Webster's
__New International Dictionary__ -- am I correct? In either case,
what's the "Hernia" edition of the dictionary you're referring to?
Cheers,
Jim Java