[Ads-l] Update: The medium is the message (Marshall McLuhan, May 5, 1958)

[Pete Morris]

Another cite, a few days later.  Article, or maybe a transcript of a 
speech by
Marshall McLuhan  contains two instances.
Proceedings of the conference on Educational Telecvision May 26-28 1958

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Circular/KVuM_5SRES8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22the+medium+is+the+message%22&pg=PP26&printsec=frontcover

The 18th Century considered it had made quite a discovery when Buffon 
proclaimed
that "the style is the man."  We should long ago have decided that the 
medium is the message.
...
Let us grant for the moment that the medium is the message.

Maybe the Buffon quote should be included as a precursor.


And another cite, possibly 1957, usual caveats apply.
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Circular/KVuM_5SRES8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22the+medium+is+the+message%22&pg=PP26&printsec=frontcover





------ Original Message ------
>From "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 01/09/2022 17:42:10
Subject Re: Update: The medium is the message (Marshall McLuhan, May 5, 
1958)

>Thanks for posting this, Garson, this is a wonderful discovery.
>
>Fred Shapiro
>
>
>________________________________
>From: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 8:23 AM
>To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu>
>Cc: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
>Subject: Update: The medium is the message (Marshall McLuhan, May 5, 1958)
>
>Andrew McLuhan, the grandson of Marshall McLuhan, notified me of a new
>1958 citation for the saying in the subject line.  To verify the
>citation I contacted the University of British Columbia, Rare Books &
>Special Collections. Librarians kindly sent me the pertinent scans.
>
>Marshall McLuhan’s 1958 speech contained two versions of the saying.
>The first instance used the plural words “media” and “messages”:
>
>[ref] 1958, Radio in the Future of Canada: A National Conference, Held
>in Vancouver, Canada on May 5 to 9, 1958, Article: Introduction of
>Professor Marshall McLuhan, Start Page 4, Quote Page 4 and 6,
>Sponsored by: British Columbia Association of Broadcasters and the
>University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
>(Verified with scans from University of British Columbia Library, Rare
>Books & Special Collections) [/ref]
>
>[Begin excerpt from page 4]
>The media are the messages, they are not conveyor belts of messages.
>In the long run it is radio that is the message, and not what a radio
>program content happens to be at any given day, or year. In the long
>run, it is photography that is the meaning and the message, not the
>picture of somebody or something.
>[End excerpt from page 4]
>
>The second instance of the saying in McLuhan’s’ speech matched the
>popular version of the expression:
>
>[Begin excerpt from page 6]
>Print, by permitting people to read at high speed and, above all, to
>read alone and silently, developed a totally new set of mental
>operations. What I mentioned earlier becomes very relevant here: the
>medium is the message. The medium of print is the message, more than
>any individual writer could say.
>[End excerpt from page 6]
>
>Fred Shapiro’s entry on this topic in “The New Yale Book of
>Quotations” presented an excellent 1959 citation. Fred also pointed to
>a precursor expression: “The method is the message”. I found some new
>early citations for this precursor.
>
>The updated version of the Quote Investigator article is available now:
>https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fquoteinvestigator.com%2F2022%2F08%2F11%2Fmedium-message%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40yale.edu%7C2f28c6e847754c9d38f808da8b4ba5e2%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637975454266485291%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=rmrFMG8ShauWlB4JTsVT8JAgdRSLGXxPEPYZ9xbdeJc%3D&reserved=0
>
>Feedback welcome
>Garson O’Toole
>
>
>
>
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