Munchausen

[James A. Landau]

Thanks to the people who straightened out my confusion about the dating of "Black liberation".

Now for another *apparent* anachronism that has me confused.

In an ADS-L thread about "bootstraps" starting August 28, 2005, there is a consensus that "Baron Munchausen" appeared in English in 1785.

However, Chapter Thirty-First "Arriving in North America, we were received by the President of the United States with every honor and politeness.  He was pleased to give us all the information possible relative to the woods and immense regions of America, and ordered trops of the different tribes of the Esquimaux to guide us..."

(Another anachronism: there were no "Eskimos" in the United States until 1959.  Also, what is the plural of "Inuit", or is it its own plural?)

Well, as trivia buffs will tell you, under the Articles of Confederation the head of the Continental Congress had the title "President of the United States in Congress Assembled", but I find it unlikely that Raspe, generally considered to be the author of Munchausen, would have been aware of the official title of a functionary in the ex-colonies, particularly since he was a recent immigrant to England.

It is possible that my edition of Munchausen (published by Grosset & Dunlap, with Gustav Dore illustrations, but with no publication date) is a later edition modified since 1785.

Aside:  "white people have no souls", which I have been using as a closing, is from Chapter Twenty-Fourth of Munchausen.

    - Jim Landau

I don't know who will win the Democratic nomination in 2008, but I do know that when the story of the nomination campaigns is written, it will be entitled "Obama and the White Trash"

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