|
On eBay Now...
RARE "Folklorist" Benjamin Botkin Signed TLS Dated 1945 JG Autographs COA For Sale
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
RARE "Folklorist" Benjamin Botkin Signed TLS Dated 1945 JG Autographs COA:
$279.99
Up for sale a RARE!"Folklorist" Benjamin Botkin Hand Signed TLS Dated 1945 on Library of Congress Letterhead.This item is certified authentic byJG Autographsand comes with their Letter of Authenticity.
ES-5322
Benjamin Albert Botkin(February 7, 1901 – July 30, 1975) was anAmericanfolkloristandscholar. Botkin was born on February 7, 1901, inEast Boston,Massachusetts, toLithuanianJewishimmigrants.He attended theEnglish High School of Bostonand then studied atHarvard University, where he graduatedmagna cum laudein 1920 with aB.A.inEnglish. He earned hisM.A.in English atColumbia Universitya year later in 1921, and hisPh.D.from theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincolnin 1931, where he studied underLouise PoundandWilliam Duncan Strong. Botkin taught at theUniversity of Oklahomain the early 1920s and married Gertrude Fritz in 1925. He edited the annualFolk-Sayfrom 1929 to 1932 and a "little magazine,"Space, from 1934 to 1935. Contributors toFolk-SayincludedCarl Sandburg,Langston Hughes,Henry Roth,J. Frank Dobie,Louise Pound,Alexander Haggerty Krappe,Stanley Vestal,Alain Locke,Sterling Brown,Paul Horgan, andMari Sandoz. He became national folklore editor and chairman of theFederal Writers' Projectin 1938, a post he held until 1941. Along withCharles Seeger, he organized a massive research and recording campaign centered on American music. From 1942 to 1945, Botkin headed theArchive of American Folk Songat theLibrary of Congresswhere he focused attention on the emerging aspects of folklore in modern life. During that time, he also served as president of theAmerican Folklore Society. At a panel of the 1939 Writers' Congress, which also includedAunt Molly Jackson,Earl Robinson, andAlan Lomax, Botkin spoke of what writers had to gain from folklore: "He gains a point of view. The satisfying completeness and integrity of folk art derives from its nature as a direct response of the artist to a group and group experience with which he identifies himself and for which he speaks." Botkin called on writers to utilize folklore in order to "make the inarticulate articulate and above all, to let the people speak in their own voice and tell their own story." Botkin was harassed and subject to surveillance for many years by theF.B.I.A recent study by Professor Susan G. Davis documents extensive surveillance of Botkin over more than a decade.Botkin died on July 30, 1975 in his home inCroton-on-Hudson, New York. Botkin embraced the ever-evolving state offolklore. According to him, folklore was not static but ever changing and being created by people in their daily lives. He developed his novel approach to American folklore while teaching inOklahomaand later working in the federal government, as part of the Federal Writers' Project, during the late 1930s and early '40s. He became Folklore editor of the Writers' Project in 1938.His efforts working with the Library of Congress led to the preservation and publication of the ex-slave narratives, part of the Federal Writers' Project.His bookLay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slaverywas the first book to useoral narrativesof formerly enslavedAfrican Americansas legitimate historical sources. While many researchers viewed folklore as a relic from the past, Botkin and otherNew Dealfolklorists insisted that American folklore played a vibrant role in the present, drawing on shared experience and promoting a democratic culture. Botkin served as the head of theArchive of American Folk Songof theLibrary of Congress(formerly held byJohn Lomaxand Alan Lomax) between 1942 and 1945. He became a board member of People's Songs Inc., a forerunner toSing Out!, during the mid '40s. At that time Botkin left his government post to devote full-time to writing. During the '40s and '50s he compiled and edited a series of books onfolklore, includingA Treasury of American Folklore(1944),A Treasury of New England Folklore(1947),A Treasury of Southern Folklore(1949),A Treasury of Western Folklore(1951),A Treasury of Railroad Folklore(withAlvin F. Harlow, 1953),A Treasury of Mississippi River Folklore(1955), andA Civil War Treasury of Tales, Legends and Folklore(1960). In his foreword toA Treasury of American Folklore, Botkin explained his values: "In one respect it is necessary to distinguish between folklore as we find it and folklore as we believe it ought to be. Folklore as we find it perpetuates human ignorance, perversity, and depravity along with human wisdom and goodness. Historically we cannot deny or condone this baser side of folklore — and yet we may understand and condemn it as we condemn other manifestations of human error." Accordingly, during the '50s and '60sRichard M. Dorsonattacked Botkin's work, which he considered unscholarly, calling much of what was included in his books "fakelore." Botkin ignored Dorson and disregarded his criteria. Folklore, he believed, was an art to be shared, not an exclusive artifact for scholars. His idea that folklore is basically creative expression used to communicate and instill social values, traditions, and goals, is widely accepted by folklorists today. Botkin insisted that democracy is strengthened by the valuing of myriad cultural voices. He is considered the "Father ofPublic Folklore."
RARE "Folklorist" Benjamin Botkin Signed TLS Dated 1946 COA $279.99
RARE "Folklorist" Benjamin Botkin Signed TLS Dated 1946 JG Autographs COA $279.99
RARE "Folklorist" Benjamin Botkin Signed TLS Dated 1945 JG Autographs COA $279.99
RARE "Folklorist" Benjamin Botkin Hand Signed TLS Dated 1944 JG Autographs COA $279.99
RARE "Folklorist" Benjamin Botkin Signed TLS Dated 1945 JG Autographs COA $279.99
William J. Faulkner African American Minister Folklorist Rare Collection Letters $1200.00
|
