One does wonder about the how authoritative they can be about things
like "cause of death" and "sexual orientation" for historical figures
like Tolstoy. I would think that cause of death is subject to the
limitations of medical science and record keeping of the time. I have
no personal knowledge about Tolstoy's death in particular, but I don't
think I would feel confident of this as a fact, based upon this site.
Perhaps it is definitely known, or perhaps it is a historical best
guess.
"Sexual orientation" for most historical figures has would nearly always
be a best guess based upon exclusion. In Tolstoy's case he was married
and had children, and we have no evidence that he was bisexual. That's
probably pretty sound for Tolstoy, but check out Henry James. Here they
don't list sexual orientation but:
" Slept with: Henrik Andersen (American sculptor)
Slept with: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (U.S. Supreme Court Justice, when
HJ was 22)"
Again, I'm not a Henry James scholar, but my memory is that his
sexuality and partners (if any) were rather mysterious, scarcely a
matter of bald fact as implied here. Again, perhaps there is reasonable
evidence for these hypotheses, but I think they remain just that:
hypotheses. At the very least I disagree with the semantics. Possibly
"Probable sexual partners"?
JJ
**Views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent those of
the Queens Library.**
Jane Jacobs
Asst. Coord., Catalog Division
Queens Borough Public Library
89-11 Merrick Blvd.
Jamaica, NY 11432
tel.: (718) 990-0804
e-mail: Jane.W.Jacobs_at_queenslibrary.org
FAX. (718) 990-8566
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From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Samantha Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 10:14 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Notable Names Database
So who are these people vetting user entries on the Notable Names
Database?
How do we know this is an authoritative source? I can't find much
information about this group to tell one way or the other. Has anyone
else
had more luck with this?
Samantha Johnson
Moore Memorial Public Library
Texas City, Texas
Received on Tue Feb 23 2010 - 11:09:25 EST