Confessions of a Literary Archaeologist [Hardcover]

Carlton Lake (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book is dedicated to the "like-minded reader," and its descriptions do make a sympathetic heart beat a little faster. Lake is a rabid bibliophile (and curator at the Ransom Humanities Research Ctr., Univ. of Texas, Austin) who revels in the tracking of books and other documents, specifically those concerning 19th- and 20th-century literary, art, and music history. He focuses on the acquisition of primary sources, giving equal weight to the substantive qualities of the material by pointing out the scholarly value found in the text, as well as the aesthetic qualities, e.g., describing a fine binding with relish. He makes extensive reference to the world of bookselling, using a specialized vocabulary while avoiding jargon. Highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
- Janice Braun, Medical Historical Lib., Yale Univ.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: New Directions; 1St Edition edition (August 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811211304
• ISBN-13: 978-0811211307
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,940,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on the subject, October 23, 2000

By 

Karen Rhyne - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Literary Archaeologist (Hardcover)

This book is simply the best. I enjoyed every page of it, and found myself mesmerized by all the information contained in the book. I was hesitate on buying the book because of the price, but was pleased to say that after reading the book very quickly just one time, I went to a yard sale and picked up two books for 50 cents each, and they are worth more than 50 dollars for each one. You can't go wrong in getting this book. Trust me.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Gem, May 28, 2008

By 

W. Johnston "w_johnston" (CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Confessions of a Literary Archaeologist (Hardcover)

Carlton Lake has written a superbly readable book of eleven of his actual exploits in search of manuscript works of French literary and artistic giants (roughly from 1890 to 1960). Each chapter is a separate mystery to be solved, sometimes lasting many years, and sometime ending in revelations that radically altered the way in which the authors (e.g. Paul Valèry) and artists (e.g. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec) are viewed.

The setting is almost always in France, usually in Paris, since that is where Carlton Lake lived for many years, during which he wrote as the Paris art critic for the Christian Science Monitor. He amassed a collection so vast that it was eventually transferred to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, where he served as curator of the collections that researchers now flock to see.

The book reads almost as a who's who of major French authors and some artists, giving intimate glimpses of their lives. For anyone familiar with French authors and artists of the period of Carlton Lake's interest, this is a wonderful gem.