Like a Sponge Thrown into Water: Francis Lieber's European Travel Journal of 1844-1845.Edited with an introduction and commentary by Charles R. Mack and Ilona S. Mack. (Columbia: Published by the University of South Carolina Press The University of South Carolina Press (or USC Press), founded in 1944, is a university press that is part of the University of South Carolina. External link
• for the South Caroliniana Library, c. 2002. Pp. [xxx], 193. $18.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 1-57003-447-8.) To students of the antebellum South, Francis Lieber Dr. Francis Lieber (March 18, 1798, Berlin, Germany – October 2, 1872, New York City), originally known as Franz Lieber, was a German-American jurist and political philosopher. , for twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. a professor at South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. College, is perhaps best known for remarking that intellectual fame in the region seemed relegated to the authors of proslavery pro·slav·er·y adj. Advocating the practice of slavery. tracts--a bitter observation that has buttressed the perception that a preoccupation with slavery crippled southern intellectual life. Lest it be thought that the title of this book merely reinforces that caricature, consider that it actually understates Lieber's sense of intellectual frustration. The full quotation, contained in a letter written to Charles Sumner from Paris in 1844, reads that Lieber's return to Europe left him feeling like "a long dried sponge thrown into water" (p. xix). The publication of Lieber's journal should foster a fuller appreciation of his wide-ranging interests and influential writings. Editors Charles R. and Ilona S. Mack have provided an introduction that places Lieber's travels in the context of his life and intellectual development, and they have translated the German in which much of his journal was written. Lieber followed a conventional itinerary, spending several weeks in London, Paris, and Belgium--including a nostalgic visit to the field of Waterloo, where he had been wounded--before he departed these well-traveled paths to visit his native Germany. And while many of the sights Lieber mentioned would have been familiar to genteel readers of his day, the Macks have fleshed out his sometimes obscure jottings with extensive descriptions culled from the same travel guides Lieber employed in his journey. The most striking impression that emerges from the journal is Lieber's double-consciousness. His sense of intellectual isolation was less a response to the milieu around Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the state capital and largest city of South Carolina. As of 2006, estimates for the population of the city proper is 122,819[1]. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a small portion of the city extends into Lexington County. , than to American conditions generally. Hence, Lieber threw himself into cultural life in Europe, and his journal documents his encounters with scientists, literary figures, and public men. Yet in these pages Lieber is surprisingly--and self-consciously-American. He applauds the superior physical and moral qualities of American women over their European counterparts, socializes with the Americans he meets, comments on Continental despotism despotism, government by an absolute ruler unchecked by effective constitutional limits to his power. In Greek usage, a despot was ruler of a household and master of its slaves. , and feels a pang of nationalist pride when an Englishman praises Joseph Story as the highest authority on equity. Travel journals are matchless windows into personalities, and Lieber's is well illuminated here: his temperamental conservatism, his highly emotional responses to art, his near-obsession with the dancer Fanny Elssler, and his fondness for flattery and name-dropping. It is a pity that the annotations explaining many of the sites Lieber visited depend almost exclusively on the John Murray guidebooks that he consulted. Thus, while the annotations---which are annoyingly located following the text of the entire journal--describe churches, museums, and other tourist sites, many of the individuals with whom Lieber circulated in Europe go unidentified. (There is, however, a separate section of brief biographies of some of the people Lieber met on his journey.) While the value of this edition of Lieber's journal is somewhat less than it might have been, it provides a vital window into the mind of an important and neglected nineteenth-century man of letters man of letters n. pl. men of letters A man who is devoted to literary or scholarly pursuits. Noun 1. man of letters - a man devoted to literary or scholarly activities . DANIEL KILBRIDE John Carroll University The university is organized into three schools including two undergraduate colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences and the Boler School of Business, and one graduate school, each defining its own academic programs under the auspices of the Academic Vice President. |
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