McCay and Keaton: Colligating, Conjecturing, and Conjuring

This essay presents evidence that comedian Buster Keaton and cartoonist Winsor McCay appeared together on vaudeville stages and then closely examines the validity of such documentation. Subsequently, a method described as "colligation" is introduced to tie together disparate strands of historical data that may or may not be related. The predictive value of the theory is tested by examining some scenes from Keaton's films. Finally, the value of such approaches is discussed in the context of creative nonfiction and literary new historicism.