Digitized early California newspapers

George Thompson george.thompson at NYU.EDU
Tue Jun 16 02:46:09 UTC 2009


There is a new file of digitized early newspapers from California: http://cbsr.tabbec.com/

Of course, I've checked it for jazz/jass.

There are two limitations.  One is, it does not cover past 1911, while the earliest appearance of "jazz" so far found is 1912.  The second is, it is a total mess.  An extract from a passage retrieved while searching for "jass"

There fire was. gentlemen very In little the perilous ca»» herein described concerning; were the occupied fire with in the the. vision of th« same person, to Journal; wit:" Miss it. Elisabeth was nearly Carewe. "the all about Betty. That last— is the prettiest— to one come of to the town!" misfortunes which Crailey pursue Gray, a alone; spoke lady not at who, all: allows an but editor why to did fall he in strain his love. eye« with toward her. . that . empty . pedestal -•'- with the However.. grottsqu* there was carvings? a Did scant he mention seek Fanchon of there, the arrival or of was the Miss Volunteers Carewe "upon the last sw««t the Apparition scene" (though none In at the all fancies of all flv» of at tfl* the unhappy cause young men? of their delay), and an: eloquent The paragraph coincidence was of devoted the to actual their appearance handsome of appearance, the Mr. lady Cummings among having them, th«refor«, been seemed one the of, more those miraculous, who wh
en, Insisted that wan and the hopeless, new staggering uniforms desperately should be worn. backward to "Soon,", the said gable-ridge,

This turns out to be a passage from a novel by Booth Tarkington.  I didn't know that he had been an influence on Gertrude Stein.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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