This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Poetry, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of poetry on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoetryWikipedia:WikiProject PoetryTemplate:WikiProject PoetryPoetry articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Literature, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Literature on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.LiteratureWikipedia:WikiProject LiteratureTemplate:WikiProject LiteratureLiterature articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.
The joys of researching outside of one's competence...edit
Latest comment: 10 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Way back in 1885, a young George Bernard Shaw sent off his first book review to the Pall Mall Gazette. It concerned a forgettable book (Trajan) by a forgotten writer (Henry F. Keenan), but allowed Shaw to deploy what we now call snark. I had decided to start working though Shaw's reviews to see what articles could be created, and began tracking down other reviews of Trajan. The publisher advertised the book with a blurb from one "E. C. Steadman", and not being familiar with the name I decided to do some research.
What emerged was an enigma: here was a poet mentioned in the same breath as Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes and Whittier, but who had never published a book of poetry. He corresponded with (and annoyed) Whitman, wrote for several leading magazines of the day (but the articles themselves were strangely absent), and was considered to be an anthologist without having ever published an anthology.
Several hours in I finally found a passing reference that mentioned one of his books. A quick trip to Worldcat ended the search: Edmund Clarence Stedman was indeed "all that and a bag of chips", and he also was in possession of a name that was misspelled often enough to create an intriguing alter-ego. Garamond Lethet c 18:55, 2 March 2014 (UTC)Reply
