Fwd: one-handed quote search

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:22 AM -0400 8/18/05, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>>  >>> <<... que j'avais plus de trente ans avant que j'eusse jeté les
>>>>>  yeux sur aucun de ces dangereux livres qu'une belle dame de par
>>>>>  le monde trouve incommodes, en ce qu'on ne peut les lire que
>>>>>  d'une main.>>
>>>>
>>>>  Translation of that last part (from Google Print):
>>>>
>>>>  <<... that I was more than thirty years old before I so much as
>>>>  glanced at one of those dangerous books which one lovely woman of
>>>>  the world finds inconvenient, so she says, because they can only be
>>>>  read with one hand.>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Hmmm, so it was originally a *woman* making the "one hand" joke? That
>>>  certainly puts a spin on the expected readership of those dangerous
>>>  books.
>>
>>The "so she says" isn't in the French, but yes, it is implied that this
>>is her opinion.
>
>Apparently some versions or editions read "... ne peut, dit-elle, les lire
>que ...."

Yes, I noticed that too.  Nice to have so many of these
Confessions--and other texts--so available and searchable on line.

>
>One might ask further whether the lady quoted is identifiable as a real
>person, and if so whether the concept should be attributed to her ....
>
In my reference to it, in the passage in a review I'm citing, elides
all reference to the "belle dame de par le monde", since in any case
I'm taking it to be Rousseau's observation (direct or indirect) that
counts here.

Larry