"jazband" in Paris--1908 is a typo

[Gerald Cohen]

    The 1908 dating of "jazband" in the Paris newspaper _Matin_ is a
typo. The date should be 1918, specifically October 8, 1918.  I do
not have _Matin_ before me, but I do have the work which refers to
it: Matthias Scherer, _Englisches Sprachgut in der französischen
Tagespresse der Gegenwart_, page 91.  And on that page is clearly
printed "(10.8.18)" for the dating of "jazband" in _Matin_.
Also, in the introduction (p.1) Scherer sets 1914 as the earliest
date for which he sought examples. So 1908 is totally excluded.

    1913 therefore remains the earliest date for the attestation of
"jazz" (in a baseball context; = pep, vim, vigor, fighting spirit;
first written by _San Francisco Bulletin_ sports writer "Scoop"
Gleeson). The musical term "jazz" comes a a bit later.

---Gerald Cohen

P.S. In a private message to several ADS-L members Grant Barrett
reported that he checked _Matin_, October 8, 1908 without finding any
trace of the supposed "jazband" quote." His check was preliminary
(hence the limited sharing of his information), and it is now clear
that even a detailed rereading of the issue will not turn up the
"jazband" item.

>
>Date:         Sun, 29 Apr 2001 09:55
>From: "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
>Subject:      Re: jazz
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>>From Jan Ivarsson:
>
>>Grand Larousse Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise (1975) under "jazz"
>>also gives the date 1908 and as a reference cites Dietrich Behrens, Ueber
>>englisches Sprachgut im Französischen (1927).
>
>I have consulted the Behrens book. The citation (p. 60) reads:
>
><<jazzband Musikkapelle (amerik.) Matin 8.10.1908: .. les _jazband_ des
>fusiliers marins donnent un concert (Scherer).>>
>
>"Scherer" apparently is a reference to M. Scherer, "Englisches Sprachgut in
>der französischen Tagespresse der Gegenwart", _Giessener Beiträge zur
>Romanischen Philologie_, Heft XI (Otto Meyer, Giessen, 1923). I can't find
>this book immediately.
>
>But the citation presumably refers to the Paris newspaper "Matin"?
>Presumably 8 October 1908? I don't have immediate access to this.
>
>Can any of the scholars take this further? If someone will send me a copy
>of the appropriate issue of "Matin", I will be glad to look through it. (^_^)
>
>-- Doug Wilson