"The Book of Snobs"
Blazing Reader,
Writing historical fiction isn't easy. One of the most challenging parts is ensuring the dialogue (internal and external) doesn't include words that didn't yet exist.
I'm currently working on a novella (tentatively called COVID Disobedience), which is partially set in Concord, Massachusetts, 1846. And I didn't know if I could use the word "snob."
A little research, however, revealed that "snob" became widely popular in 1843, when William Thackeray published The Book of Snobs. This collection of satirical essays explored the snobbery prevalent in Victorian society.
Even more interesting, I discovered that the word "snobbery" actually evolved from the word "cobbler."
In the 1800s, shoemakers typically looked down upon cobblers. A cobbler was a man of limited skill and supplies who only repaired shoes. Cobblers didn't make shoes. They were considered inferior.
Originally, "snobbery" described people who looked down upon cobblers. Later, it expanded to apply to anyone who looked down upon others because they possessed lesser skills, education, resources, or money.
In the context of my novella, I needed to refer to Henry David Thoreau (one of the main characters) as an "unapologetic literary snob." Thoreau was well known for frowning upon the "sentimental domestic fiction" of the day, considering it to be vastly inferior to classical literature.
I wonder what he thought about William Makepeace's The Book of Snobs (which, by the way, you can purchase through my Blazing Pine Shop).
John C.A. Manley
PS For more about my forthcoming novella — set in both 1846 Concord, Massachusetts and 2020 Sudbury, Ontario — check out: Henry David Thoreau and "COVID Disobedience" .
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.
