In this Book

summary
If, as some suggest, American literature began with Huckleberry Finn, then the humorists of the Old South surely helped us to shape that literature. Twain himself learned to write by reading the humorists’ work, and later writers were influenced by it. This book marks the first new collection of humor from that region published in fifteen years—and the first fresh selection of sketches and tales to appear in over forty years.
Thomas Inge and Ed Piacentino bring their knowledge of and fondness for this genre to a collection that reflects the considerable body of scholarship that has been published on its major figures and the place of the movement in American literary history. They breathe new life into the subject, gathering a new selection of texts and adding Twain—the only major American author to contribute to and emerge from the movement—as well as several recently identified humorists.
All of the major writers are represented, from Augustus Baldwin Longstreet to Thomas Bangs Thorpe, as well as a great many lesser-known figures like Hamilton C. Jones, Joseph M. Field, and John S. Robb. The anthology also includes several writers only recently discovered to be a part of the tradition, such as Joseph Gault, Christopher Mason Haile, James Edward Henry, and Marcus Lafayette Byrn, and features authors previously overlooked, such as William Gilmore Simms, Ham Jones, Orlando Benedict Mayer, and Adam Summer.
Selections are timely, reflecting recent trends in literary history and criticism sensitive to issues of gender, race, and ethnicity. The editors have also taken pains to seek out first printings to avoid the kinds of textual corruptions that often occur in later versions of these sketches. Southern Frontier Humor offers students and general readers alike a broad perspective and new appreciation of this singular form of writing from the Old South—and provides some chuckles along the way.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Praise, Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. 2-9
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. ix-xii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Note on the Texts
  2. pp. xiii-xvi
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction: The Humor of the Old South; or, Transgression He Wrote
  2. pp. 1-24
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (1790–1870)
  2. pp. 25-42
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Solomon Franklin Smith (1801–1869)
  2. pp. 43-51
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Charles F. M. Noland (1810–1858)
  2. pp. 52-56
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. William Tappan Thompson (1812–1882)
  2. pp. 57-69
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. George Washington Harris (1814–1869)
  2. pp. 70-88
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Johnson Jones Hooper (1815–1862)
  2. pp. 89-111
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Joseph Glover Baldwin (1815–1864)
  2. pp. 112-127
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Thomas Bangs Thorpe (1815–1878)
  2. pp. 128-148
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Henry Clay Lewis (1825–1850)
  2. pp. 149-170
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910)
  2. pp. 171-190
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. David Crockett (1786–1836)
  2. pp. 191-201
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. “Riproarious Shemales”: Legendary Women of the Crockett Almanacs
  2. pp. 202-206
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Joseph Gault (1794–1879)
  2. pp. 207-211
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. James Edward Henry (1796–1850)
  2. pp. 212-223
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Hamilton C. Jones (1798–1868)
  2. pp. 224-229
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. William Gilmore Simms (1806–1870)
  2. pp. 230-240
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Joseph M. Field (1810–1856)
  2. pp. 241-249
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Hardin E. Taliaferro (1811–1875)
  2. pp. 250-257
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. John S. Robb (1813–1856)
  2. pp. 258-267
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Christopher Mason Haile (1814–1849)
  2. pp. 268-274
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Adam Geiselhard Summer (1818–1866)
  2. pp. 275-280
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Orlando Benedict Mayer (1818–1891)
  2. pp. 281-288
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. William C. Hall (c. 1819–1865)
  2. pp. 289-298
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Francis James Robinson (1820–1872)
  2. pp. 299-318
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Marcus Lafayette Byrn (1826–1903)
  2. pp. 319-330
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Southern Frontier Humor: A Selected Bibliography
  2. pp. 331-338
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. About The Editors, Back Cover
  2. pp. 339-359
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.