Exhibit at Morgan Library in New York reportedly contains important information about Winston Churchill anecdote/quotation

[George Thompson]

This reminds me of a vaguely remembererd joke, probably encountered in one
of Bennett Cerf's compilations, 50+ years ago: A theatrical producer tells
a waspish drama critic that he will order him barred from his theatre on
opening night; The critic replies, very well, I will go the second night
and review the closing.

I was in the Morgan a couple of weeks ago, but did not go into the
Churchill exhibition, and am not likely to be there again before it closes.

GAT

On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 1:26 AM, Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

> The Morgan Library and Museum in New York currently is presenting an
> exhibition called "Churchill: The Power of Words". It runs from June 8
> through September 23, 2012. An email correspondent told me that the
> exhibit includes a letter that discusses the famous anecdote involving
> George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill. Here is one version of the
> celebrated dialog:
>
> Shaw: I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play;
> bring a friend - if you have one.
> Churchill: Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second - if
> there is one.
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/03/25/two-tickets-shaw/
>
> The recent visitor to the exhibit emailed me and stated that: "The
> Churchill exhibit contains correspondence indicating that this
> exchange did not occur." He also stated that: "One of the letters is
> from the late 1940's from a playwright (Coward or Shaw??). Can't
> recall."
>
> Has any list member seen this exhibit? Is anyone planning to see this
> exhibit?
>
> The library has been directly contacted, and I will try to follow this
> avenue to gain information. But it would be great if someone could
> visit the exhibit and take a cell-phone picture(s) of the letter(s)
> and companion description(s) (if the museum allows photographs).
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide,
> Garson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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

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