Thomas Ruys Smith, _River of Dreams: Imagnining the Mississippi before Mark Twain_ (Baton Rouge: LSUP, 2007 might be helpful. I'm not convinced by Smith's conclusions, but he cites and disucsses a huge list of sources about river culture up to about 1860. Gregg ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 3:17 pm Subject: Re: River culture questions > > >2. I am wondering if there are any works or scholars > > >interested in how the > > >river served specifically as a mean of transmitting culture > > >and change > > >among the communities served by it? Did Twain write about the > > >river in > > >these kinds of terms? > > > > >Dr. Harold K. Bush, Jr., Associate Professor > > >Dept. of English > > >Saint Louis University > > >St. Louis, MO 63108 > > >[log in to unmask] > > >314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) 314-495-4094 (cell) > > ><www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/ENG/faculty/hbush.html> > > > Two early books come to mind that touch on this theme in a way. > Glazier'sDOWN THE GREAT RIVER (1887) is one, and Clifton > Johnson's book on the > Mississippi River Valley from his Highway and Byways series at the > turn-of-the-century is the other, nicely illustrated with photos, > with some > focus on black culture and river towns, and even an account of > Twain's visit > to Hannibal and his encounter with a black family living in the > old Tom > Blankenship home. But these are not books by scholars, nor > literary, but of > possible interest because they appeared in Twain's lifetime. > > Kevin > @ > Mac Donnell Rare Books > 9307 Glenlake Drive > Austin TX 78730 > 512-345-4139 > [log in to unmask] > Member: ABAA, ILAB > ************************** > You may browse our books at > www.macdonnellrarebooks.com >