The Journal of Aaron Burr: Teaser and Emails
I began reading Aaron's Burr's diary while I was in a plane stuck on a runway, repeatedly delayed due to "rain in San Francisco" (not exactly a rare phenomenon), when I was attempting to get to SF for a potentially life-changingly crucial appointment that day. I had allowed myself three hours leeway in addition to the actual time needed to get to the appointment; those hours were rapidly ticking down as the plane was delayed and delayed and delayed. I later learned that there had been no rain in San Francisco at that time. (The plane was 2 1/2 hours late, but I did make the appointment.)
This proved to be the absolute ideal time to read the journal of Aaron Burr. It was written post-duel, pre-treason trial, while he is traveling around Europe to avoid being brought up on a murder charge. Theodosia Jr. is alive. The duel has not yet been mentioned (but I am skimming for the good stuff, and only halfway through, so I could have missed something.)
Burr's diary bears virtually no resemblance not only to any fictional Burrs, but also to ANYTHING you'd expect just from reading the events of his life. It is primarily about his hilarious travel misadventures, and in fact reads remarkably like a travel journal of mine just in terms of events - "it could only happen to Aaron." If you have read the excerpts floating online in which he sets himself on fire and obsesses about a zit on his nose, let me tell you, you have only begun to scratch the surface of the hilarity.
The version I have was put together in 1901 by William K. Bixtbt (typo for Bixby?), with a foreword extolling Burr and saying he was unfairly maligned, and noting that an earlier version was heavily rewritten and censored. So beware that one, I guess. He notes that Burr's handwriting is terrible, and that he uses many foreign words and also some private code, and that while he was more-or-less fluent in French, he also uses lots of words from languages he did not actually speak. The footnotes get more and more annoyed and snippy as the book goes on as the poor editor struggles to make sense of sentences which are 1) illegible, 2) written in three different languages, 3) in which every single word is misspelled, ungrammatical, or both.
I started emailing a friend from the runway. Here are a few of my emails.
10:03 AM. Transcription horrible. You must read anyway. It is hilarious. I am like five pages in and have already encountered the zit saga, which is even funnier in full, plus multiple complaints about bootmakers and much snark.
10:12 AM: He has now been going on about his nose for something like 10 pages.
10:27 AM: One of the very first entries:
Bootmaker a great liar; boots not done.
I feel that this [my plane getting stuck] is the sort of thing that would also happen to Aaron Burr. The nose thing is not actually a zit and the reason for it is HILARIOUS. He sounds like Cyrano de Bergerac.
10:32 AM: Burr is also having bad luck traveling:
After being two hours on the way, missed my handkerchiefs and, upon quiet examination, discovered that I had taken the wrong coat. What a curse to have two coats at a time!
It is like the time I arrived in NYC with no coat and two bottles of red nail polish.
10:51 AM: I am still on the runway. Meanwhile, Burr has somehow lost all his luggage and his carriage fare.
10:54 AM: Burr made it a few entries with no incident, but has now been hungover for two entries in a row.
11:00 AM: Burr is now hungover again. He drinks cream of tartar punch as a remedy. (Yecch.)
Also interesting, he really likes women. Not just to sex up. As people. He keeps noting whether they are smart, pretty, or both.
Resemblance to Miranda's Burr: nil.
Resemblance to Vidal's Burr: only in very limited areas.
11:03 AM: Burr just lost his umbrella and has taken (stolen? unclear) the umbrella of a friend. Fully expect him to lose that too.
Burr's Journal Online. Not sure if this includes the footnotes. I got my copy off Amazon for $1.99.
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/1242227.html. Comment here or there.
This proved to be the absolute ideal time to read the journal of Aaron Burr. It was written post-duel, pre-treason trial, while he is traveling around Europe to avoid being brought up on a murder charge. Theodosia Jr. is alive. The duel has not yet been mentioned (but I am skimming for the good stuff, and only halfway through, so I could have missed something.)
Burr's diary bears virtually no resemblance not only to any fictional Burrs, but also to ANYTHING you'd expect just from reading the events of his life. It is primarily about his hilarious travel misadventures, and in fact reads remarkably like a travel journal of mine just in terms of events - "it could only happen to Aaron." If you have read the excerpts floating online in which he sets himself on fire and obsesses about a zit on his nose, let me tell you, you have only begun to scratch the surface of the hilarity.
The version I have was put together in 1901 by William K. Bixtbt (typo for Bixby?), with a foreword extolling Burr and saying he was unfairly maligned, and noting that an earlier version was heavily rewritten and censored. So beware that one, I guess. He notes that Burr's handwriting is terrible, and that he uses many foreign words and also some private code, and that while he was more-or-less fluent in French, he also uses lots of words from languages he did not actually speak. The footnotes get more and more annoyed and snippy as the book goes on as the poor editor struggles to make sense of sentences which are 1) illegible, 2) written in three different languages, 3) in which every single word is misspelled, ungrammatical, or both.
I started emailing a friend from the runway. Here are a few of my emails.
10:03 AM. Transcription horrible. You must read anyway. It is hilarious. I am like five pages in and have already encountered the zit saga, which is even funnier in full, plus multiple complaints about bootmakers and much snark.
10:12 AM: He has now been going on about his nose for something like 10 pages.
10:27 AM: One of the very first entries:
Bootmaker a great liar; boots not done.
I feel that this [my plane getting stuck] is the sort of thing that would also happen to Aaron Burr. The nose thing is not actually a zit and the reason for it is HILARIOUS. He sounds like Cyrano de Bergerac.
10:32 AM: Burr is also having bad luck traveling:
After being two hours on the way, missed my handkerchiefs and, upon quiet examination, discovered that I had taken the wrong coat. What a curse to have two coats at a time!
It is like the time I arrived in NYC with no coat and two bottles of red nail polish.
10:51 AM: I am still on the runway. Meanwhile, Burr has somehow lost all his luggage and his carriage fare.
10:54 AM: Burr made it a few entries with no incident, but has now been hungover for two entries in a row.
11:00 AM: Burr is now hungover again. He drinks cream of tartar punch as a remedy. (Yecch.)
Also interesting, he really likes women. Not just to sex up. As people. He keeps noting whether they are smart, pretty, or both.
Resemblance to Miranda's Burr: nil.
Resemblance to Vidal's Burr: only in very limited areas.
11:03 AM: Burr just lost his umbrella and has taken (stolen? unclear) the umbrella of a friend. Fully expect him to lose that too.
Burr's Journal Online. Not sure if this includes the footnotes. I got my copy off Amazon for $1.99.
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/1242227.html. Comment here or there.