J. Franklin Jameson (1859–1937)

Which contains more useful information, a two-year-old World Almanac or a two-hundred-year-old Poor Richard's Almanac? Without question, the former. Which is worth more? The latter.

Most of the greater value is due simply to rarity; there are a lot more World Almanacs around than early American books. But there is also a value to age. The World Almanac has lots of still-current information -- but it's information you already know, and you have a modern's perspective on it. Poor Richard's Almanac has information you won't instinctively know, told from the perspective of the time.

It's that different perspective that makes J. Franklin Jameson's historical dictionary so interesting. It is a good dictionary, and mostly accurate insofar as I have checked it -- but the real value lies in the fact that it sees things from the perspective of the 1890s. Civil Rights issues, e.g., are seen from a viewpoint that not only precedes Brown v. Board of Education but even Plessy v. Ferguson. Economics is seen from the perspective of a nation much more rural than today. Labor issues are very different. The list is endless.

The bottom line is that a person doing historical research will find this a very useful book. It won't be the last word on any particular topic, but it can give you insight into a period now very foreign to us. I found my copy on clearance for $2. It may be the best $2 I ever spent on a book.… (más)