The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 479
663 p. : ill., maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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J. Tolmer-Spurious Traveler
before or after the letters appeared in the Journal or as a book.
There is no record of additional publications in Leipzig.
The name "Tolmer," although common in France, is not neces-
sarily a typically French name. It was not unknown in England
and was common in Belgium and Holland. Librarians at the
Bibliothbque Nationale and archivists throughout France were
unable to locate any Tolmer who might be the author of the
letters. "Captain" might well have been a self bestowed title, a
device calculated to impede the work of an investigator. There
was no French naval officer who, in any way, could be identified
as the plagiarist. In short, although it is not possible to prove
that Tolmer was not a Frenchman and a captain, it seems equally
impossible to prove that he was."
It is equally hopeless today to acquire information from either
the publisher or the printer of the volume. Avenarius and Men-
delssohn went out of business a few years after the letters appeared
as a book. The printer, F. A. Brockhaus, was a distinguished
Leipzig firm even before the 1840's and is still in existence today.
Histories of the Brockhaus establishment provide no clue and,
although the firm kept complete records, its archives were de-
stroyed by war. Therefore, this avenue of investigation, which
might possibly have turned up clues to the identity of the thief
and might conceivably have illuminated the period between pub-
lication of the letters in the Journal des Debats and their appear-
ance as a bound volume, is forever closed.12
iLibrarians of the following institutions reported negative findings: Archives
D6partementales D'Indre-et-Loire, Tours, November 3, 196o; Bibliothbque & Ar-
chives, Cherbourg, November 26, 196o; Archives D6partementales, Prdfecture de la
Seine-Maritime, Rouen, November 29, 196o; Ministbre de la Guerre, Archives
Administratives, Chateau de Vincennes, Paris, December 2, 196o. A check of the
Annuaire de l'Atat Militaire de France, from 1843 through 1855, failed to reveal an
army officer who might have been Tolmer.
12Heinrich Eduard Brockhaus, Die Firma F. A. Brockhaus von der Begriindung
bis zum hundertjiihrigen Jubiliium, z8o05-go5 (Leipzig, 1905); Arthur Hiibscher,
Hundertfiinfzig Jahre F. A. Brockhaus, x8o5 bis z955 (Wiesbaden, 1955); F. A.
Brockhaus to Richard A. Jackson, January 12, 1961; Jackson to P. D. J., January
25, 1961, enclosing Brockhaus's note reading: "Zu meinem Bedauern kann ich
Ihnen keine Unterlagen aus dem vorigen Jahrhundert fiir Ihre Arbeit fiber ein
nordamerikanisches Buch zur Verffigung stellen, weil mein Leipziger Stammhaus
durch Kriegsein-wirkung vernichtet wurde. Ich darf Ihnen empfehlen, mit deutschen
Bibliotheken, deren Bestlinde erhalten geblieben sind, die Verbindung aufzunehmen."479
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962, periodical, 1962; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101195/m1/537/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.