The Horn Book
 | ||
| Author: | Gershon Legman | |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape | |
| Released | January 1, 1970 | |
| Pages | 568 pages | |
| Weight | 1.72 lb | |
| ISBN-10 | 0224618660 | |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0224618663 | |
| Notes | $89.95 @ Amazon 3/22 | |
The Horn Book : studies in erotic folklore and bibliography was authored by Gershon Legman in 1964.
- From the overleaf :
Mr. Legman is, perhaps, the most learned and most controversial figure in the field of American folklore. He is also – and in this time, without any reservations whenever - the principal living specialist in erotic folklore.
The author's intention is to give the real facts about erotic literature and folklore, instead of the fakes and fantasies now passing for authentic material. Violently and eloquently, he attacks the substitution of fakelore for folklore and the mass communication media of America today.
The literary value of this book is indeed high, but perhaps his greatest achievement is to introduce the reader to the street thinking, free – wheeling mind, spirit and delete expressing itself on important matters in delivering a vital message: need to preserve our authentic folklore for the people it belongs to, as a protection against the inhuman currents of modern life, the passionate conviction that folk arts play a hitting role in her mechanized civilization.
- Amazon review
G. Legman was a scholarly collector of erotica, especially the dirty joke and the limerick. He published two giant collections of dirty jokes that included extensive analyses of the jokes, their origins, comparative versions, and other scholarly concerns. He did the same for the bawdy limerick. THE HORN BOOK is a kind of apologia of erotica with longish articles on erotic collections and folklore, including bawdy ballads, the limerick, and the formation of a motif index for this type of work. It's pretty esoteric, but Legman is an interesting writer and, needless to say, knows his subject well. Anyone with any scholarly interest in this field of endeavor will find this book useful and provocative.
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