Thanks Ed,
BTW, I think Max Perkins was also F. Scott Fitzgerald's editor. Fitzgerald used the language much more richly (I can't really find the right word, but that's the closest I can think of) than Hemingway; of course, I have a preference for the former over the latter. I do strongly contend, however, that they both used the language "correctly" -- whatever that may mean. Dick Veit's recent posting seems to support this idea, at least I think it does: "Correctness" in language is determined by those who use it (and perhaps more by those who use it in a public way than by the rest of us), not by prescriptivists.
Paul D.
----- Original Message ----
From: Edgar Schuster <
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To:
[log in to unmask]Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 4:26:26 PM
Subject: Re: Past perfect phrases, E.B. White
Yes, the original "Elements of Style" was written by White's professor at Cornell, William Strunk, Jr., who had it privately printed and required it of his own English 8 students. (Sound familiar?) The newest edition I have is the Fourth, which contains a foreword by Roger Angell, who further edited the book, as White had done for Strunk.
As for the "correctness" of anything by any published author, we might remember that they all have editors. Thus if there are errors, they are errors committed by at least two highly literate people.
For what
it's worth, Hemingway's editor, Max Perkins, was reputed to have been one of the best ever. White's first "Elements" would have been edited at Macmillan (1959), a well respected firm. His editor at "The New Yorker" would have been the legendary Harold Ross.
Ed Schuster
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