I'll read your Marian Powys essay no matter where it is published or how many footnotes it may contain (I prefer zero, but that’s just me).
About a decade ago I discovered a very interesting factoid about the famous first line of Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice” (“It is a truth universally acknowledged …) My factoid suggested that it was a satirical re-working of a line from somebody else’s very famous book. I thought this added a dimension to the sentence that had not been there before, and wrote a letter to the editor of the Austen Society newsletter to tell the story. I received a late night phone call from the editor, sputtering in indignation, who accused me of accusing the great Jane of plagiarism. She was furious, and I pointed out that all I had done was notice something, I wasn’t accusing anybody of anything, and that it was OK with me if we just dropped the whole thing. The more friendly ladies at the local Austen Society suggested I send it to a British publisher of this type of information (“Notes and News”?), and from them I received a multi-page document requesting my academic qualifications and a full listing of my previous academic publications, without which I would not be considered for publication in their newsletter. So, fine. The world doesn’t get to know. It is enough that I know ;-) But Mother Julian was right. All will be well. Adele - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
