Blacklegs, Card Sharps, and Confidence Men: Nineteenth-Century Mississippi River Gambling Stories Contributor(s): Smith, Thomas Ruys (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0807136360 ISBN-13: 9780807136362 Publisher: LSU Press OUR PRICE: $37.95 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2010 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | American - General - History | United States - State & Local - General |
Dewey: 810.935 |
LCCN: 2009030241 |
Series: Southern Literary Studies (Hardcover) |
Physical Information: 0.92" H x 6.36" W x 9.05" (1.14 lbs) 288 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: In 1836 Benjamin Drake, a midwestern writer of popular sketches for newspapers of the day, introduced his readers to a new and distinctly American rascal who rode the steamboats up and down the Mississippi and other western waterways -- the riverboat gambler. These men, he recorded, dress with taste and elegance; carry gold chronometers in their pockets; and swear with the most genteel precision.... Every where throughout the valley, these mistletoe gentry are called by the original, if not altogether classic, cognomen of 'Black-legs.' |