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Subject: [Q-R] Excerpt Of History
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 19:38:49 EST
Sam Slick 1796-1865
"In creating the Yankee clockmaker Sam Slick, Judge Haliburton turned from
legislation to satire in his drive to promote social and political change in
Nova Scotia. He became the first Canadian writer to achieve international
recognition.
Sam Slick appealed to British and American readers as well as to Nova
Scotians. The "Clockmaker" first published in 1836 quickly became the first
Canadian international bestseller, and is still in print. Sam Slick was so popular
that Haliburton wrote a whole series of books, which passed through numerous
regular editions and pirated printings. The illustrator C.W. Jefferys said of
Haliburton, " He was altogether a fine old reactionary who believed in pretty
nearly everything that has been abolished or is now in process of demolition." He
also passed common sense judgment on the absurdities of colonial pioneer life
and manners."
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