Friday, June 10, 2011

Sorceror* (for Sorcerer*)

Those of us of a certain age tend to associate sorcerers with the 1940 Walt Disney feature Fantasia and the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" (aka Micky Mouse), while those of a later minting may be primarily inclined to think of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. However, if you were around at the turn of the (20th) century, an English comic actor by the name of Walter Passmore might be more your cup of tea. According to Wikipedia: "While rehearsing the role [of Joseph in a revival of H.M.S. Pinafore in 1899], Passmore suggested to W.S. Gilbert that he might walk around with his nose in the air 'as though raising it above an unpleasant smell.' Gilbert quipped, 'Unpleasant smell? Well, you're the best judge of that, Passmore.'" So, er, not to raise a stink about it, but no matter whose style of magick you prefer, please try and make sure you've got it spelled correctly. There were 27 of these up our sleeve in OhioLINK today, and 220 in WorldCat. And because this one is probably more of a common misspelling than a typo per se, you should be doubly sure to check the "sorce" before making any edits: the mistake could well be on the OR-iginal.

(Walter Passmore as John Wellington Wells in an 1898 revival of The Sorcerer.)

Carol Reid

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