In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

BOOK REVIEWS duced iii this fac4 ] j« « 11-i_ 2 . . 1 _ simile edition. The book is laid olit in two sections , a lengthy introdtiction titled The I.ife, Death, I. ''' Ill A atid Monunieilt of Charles Floyd" and " The Journal 4.· p :. ,.. of Sergeant Charles Floyd." All expanded updating of Holmberg's article that originally appeared in the August 1996 edition of We Proceeded On,the scholarly introduction includes a brief bic, graphy of Floyd prior ti,the Kentuckian's etilistment, an overview of his duties and experiences on the expedition, his death, as well as the development of a lasting motiument to Floyd in Sioux Clity. As for the journal pages themselves, they are printed on the lefthand page with Holmberg' s transcription and extensive annotations printed on the righthand page. Floyd's entries aic shoit and factual. In coniparing Holmberg's with Nloulton's transcriptions, one notices slight differences, primarily in editc, rial style. For example,in the first line that Floyd wrote, I Hohnberg chose to capitalize " Monday, whereas Moulton did not. Here I would defer to Moulton. A few lines later.Holmberg transcribed the primary watercraft as " Batteow" whereas Moulton read it Batteaw." In readincr Flovd's script,it is plain as b , that both spellings are equally valid. Those readers who have access to the different versions of Hoyd's journal will no doubt succumb to the temptation to cotinpare transcriptions. At times, Floyd crossed out a word,words or a phrase that he had just peniied. In producing as literal a transcription as possible, Hc, linberg uses " strike throughs"to replicate FIc, yd's practice. Motilton indicates these deleted words oi-phrases with brackets. But again,nothing is lost in these editorial differences. I read Floyd's entries with n view to detertiiining whether I could notice any deterioratic, 11 in the sergeatit's handwriting froni the initial entry on May 14, 1804, to the final one on August 17. There appears to be a little deterioration on the last two days, days that iticluded the return, trial, and punishment of Private Moses Reed for desertion. Except fc, r entries on these two days, I did not notice any decline. From just a dose lc, c,k at his writing style,Charles Flc, yd strikes me as an Anierican soldier who fulfilled his duty thi- ) ughout. Perhaps this facsimile editioii is as niuch of a lasting nioiiument to this " young man ot much merit"as is the one hundred foot st(, ne obelisk in Sioux City. Gec, rge D. Berndt Missuitri Natioiial Recreational River Herbert Woodward Martin and Ronald Primeau, cds. In His Own Voice:Tbe Dramatic and Otber UncollectedWorks ofPaul Laurence Dunbar. Foreword by Hetiry Louis Gates,Jr. Athens: Ohio University Press,2002. 315 pp. ISBN: 0821414224 paper), $ 22.95. Dttiii: sehavet[-t: iinpilbs] ed onittewritings and legacy of Paul I. aurence Dunbar, the first African American poet to achieve both national and worldwide acclaim. Iii 1971, for example, Addison Gayle's Oak and Ivy and Dudley Randall's The Black Poet cast Dtillbar is a fc, rei1171ier of the Harlein Renaissance of the 19205 and the Black Arts movement of the 1960s. A decade later, both Tony Gentry,in Paul 1.aurence Dunbar, and Henry Louis Gates,Jr,iii The Signifying Motikey,echoed similar characteristics about I)unbar. Even many ot today's contemporary Africati American poets and writers, such as Mava Angelou, Nikki ( Ii ovanni, 94 OHIO VAL. 1. E Y HISTORY Etheridge Knight,Toni Morrison,and Alice Walker, have noted that they were greatly itiflitenced b>the works of Diinbar. In one aspect,the v(, lume linder review here is a testi] 11() ily tc) that fact. In His Ott,n Voice editors Herbert Woodward Martin and Rc, nald Primea, 1 enable uS to experience the more coinplex,subtle,aiid witty side of Dunbar as a " dramatist" through numeroils previously inaccessible literary works. ( xxiv) M() re specifically, the editors proclaim that this volume rests on the notion that l) unbar, if nothing else, was a great shortstory writer and essi>ist." ( xxiv) Martin And Primeau's volume is divided both chrc, iiologicallr and thematically into fc, ur distinctive sections...

pdf

Share