[Ads-l] Request help with quotation "Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite clear to him"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Both of the requests in this thread have now been satisfied.

Many thanks to Jeffrey Graf and the Herman B Wells Library at Indiana
University – Bloomington for verifying the citation in "This Quarter".
Many thanks to S. M. Colowick and The New York Public Library for
verifying the citation in "Horns of Glass".
Thanks also to Stephen Goranson for his efforts.

A QI article on this topic will be posted within a week or two.
Garson O'Toole

On Thu, Dec 17, 2020 at 1:07 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The quotation in the subject line is attributed to novelist Paul
> Eldridge. I received a request to examine its provenance.
>
> My research suggests that Eldridge employed three slightly different
> versions of this saying. This message contains two requests. The first
> request might be satisfiable online via HathiTrust.
>
> The earliest instance I have located appeared in a journal called
> "This Quarter". The data below is based on data from Google Books
> snippets; hence it may be inaccurate.
>
> Apparently, HathiTrust has an Emergency Temporary Access Service. Some
> HathiTrust partners can access the journal "This Quarter" online. For
> example, when I looked at this journal via the Duke catalog it looked
> like faculty and students might be able to access the journal online.
>
> Year: 1925
> Periodical: This Quarter
> Volume 1, Issue 1
> Editor: Edward W. Titus et al
> Published in Milan, Italy; moved to Paris, France
> Article Title: Cornucopiae (may be inaccurate)
> Article Author: Paul Eldridge (may be inaccurate)
> Quote Page 180 (may be inaccurate)
> Reprint Publisher: Kraus Reprint Corporation (If you can access the
> original that would be great)
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Man is willing to die for any idea, provided that idea is not quite
> clear to him.
> [End excerpt]
>
> You could help by retrieving the journal, verifying the presence of
> the quotation, and determining the correct metadata which may differ
> from the metadata listed above. You might be able to access it via
> HathiTrust.
>
> Scans, photos or screen captures (which you can crop) showing the
> quotation and metadata would be great.
>
> The second version of the saying employed by Paul Eldridge apparently
> occurs in the short 1943 book "Horns of Glass". The quotation text
> below is based on a Google Books match. The book is in "No Preview"
> mode; hence, no snippets are displayed. Also, the data may be
> inaccurate.
>
> Year: 1943
> Book Title: Horns of Glass
> Author Paul Eldridge
> Publisher: Harbinger House, New York
> Quote Page 15 (may be inaccurate)
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite clear to him.
> [End excerpt]
>
> You could help by retrieving this book, verifying the presence of the
> quotation, and determining the correct metadata. In addition,
> collecting supporting scans, photos, or screen shots would be helpful.
>
> I have already verified several other citations. For example I have
> verified the 1942 citation below. So I do not need help verifying it.
>
> [ref 1942 Summer, Books Abroad: An International Quarterly, Volume 16,
> Number 3, (Filler item), Quote Page 308, University of Oklahoma Press,
> Norman, Oklahoma. (JSTOR) link [/ref]
> https://www.jstor.org/stable/40082847
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "Man is willing to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite
> clear to him." -- Paul Eldridge
> [End excerpt]
>
> The third version of the saying employed by Paul Eldridge appeared in
> the 1965 book "Maxims for a Modern Man". I have already verified this
> 1965 instance with hardcopy.
>
> Thanks,
> Garson O'Toole

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