• A Corrupt Medium: Stephen Burroughs and the Bridgehampton, New York, Library

    Author(s):
    Susanna Margaret Ashton (see profile)
    Date:
    2007
    Group(s):
    GS Life Writing
    Subject(s):
    Libraries, History, American literature--Colonial period, Autobiography, Books
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Criminal Narratives, Rogue Narrative, Library history, Early American literature, Book history
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M61V9G
    Abstract:
    In his eighteenth-century Memoirs, criminal Stephen Burroughs tells of his campaign to establish a library in Bridgehampton, New York. When the town elders discover the plan, they insist upon reviewing Burroughs's choices. Undercurrents of other debates spill over into what would otherwise merely be some quibbling over book selections. In a series of vividly recounted public meetings, Burroughs pits the local elders against himself and "the People." These book wars are clearly situated in ideological struggles regarding rationalism and the role of reading in general; but, more significantly, they are situated in a representational context that by its very genre—that of the rogue narrative—calls into question the role of individual interpretation and literary influence.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    DOI10.1353/lac.2003.0021
    Publisher:
    Johns Hopkins University Press
    Pub. Date:
    2007-2-7
    Journal:
    Libraries & the Cultural Record
    Volume:
    38
    Issue:
    2
    Page Range:
    93 - 120
    ISSN:
    1932-9555
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    5 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

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