[Milton-L] soliciting of reviews
Mario DiCesare
dicesare1 at mindspring.com
Thu Dec 11 20:16:07 EST 2008
Hannibal has it just right, I think. Even down to the withdrawn review. I was once
asked to review a book which, in the end, I thought was a poor piece of work. I
finally wrote to the editor saying no good would come of printing a negative review
of the book. He agreed, but very reluctantly. As Hannibal puts it, "really bad books
should best be just ignored."
Mario
Hannibal Hamlin wrote:
> I'm intrigued by the idea of peer-reviewed reviews, which I've not heard
> of before, but I'm inclined to agree with Mario DiCesare. I tend to
> feel that a contract of some sort is involved in the commissioning of a
> review. For instance (and this relates to another of the perennial
> problems of reviews -- the bad review), in many cases, I'm not sure
> anyone benefits from a totally savage, or even totally negative review.
> But as review editor, I wouldn't feel comfortable not printing any
> review that I had commissioned, since that would seem unfair to the
> reviewer. On the other hand, I can think of one instance where a
> reviewer submitted a review and himself expressed concern about how
> negative it was. He suggested that there was little to be gained from
> publishing it and left it to me. In that case, I decided not to print
> the review, and both I and the reviewer agreed that was best. Reviews
> certainly need to be critical when criticism is merited, but perhaps
> most really bad books should best be just ignored. I might feel
> differently, though, about a really problematic book by a
> well-established scholar. (This raises another question, I know, but I
> really am interested in the ethics of reviewing, and there are so many
> questions that seem never to get discussed. Nor, interestingly, does
> reviewing ever seem part of graduate programs.)
>
> Hannibal
>
> On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 5:39 PM, Mario DiCesare
> <dicesare1 at mindspring.com <mailto:dicesare1 at mindspring.com>> wrote:
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I agree with Hannibal Hamlin and John Leonard on this matter.
>
> I would like to raise a related issue. When one -- let's say J.B. --
> is asked to review a book, the request is presumably based on J.B.'s
> scholarly credentials. The review is J.B.'s work; he or she is
> willing to submit it for the judgement, agreement, criticism,
> whatever of those who read the review.
>
> Under ordinary circumstances, it seems to me improper for the
> editor(s) who requested the review to review it themselves and
> revise it or even reject it. I can think of exceptions, but I doubt
> very much that routine reviewing of reviewers' work is sound or
> defensible policy.
>
> Mario A. DiCesare
>
>
>
>
> John Leonard wrote:
>
> I agree with Hannibal Hamlin. It is a very bad practice to
> solicit reviews. Even if an abuse does not occur, the practice
> is open to abuse and should be discouraged. Hannibal is right
> to take a stand on this.
> John Leonard
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Hannibal Hamlin <mailto:hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com
> <mailto:hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com>>
> *To:* John Milton Discussion List
> <mailto:milton-l at lists.richmond.edu
> <mailto:milton-l at lists.richmond.edu>>
> *Sent:* Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:36 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Milton-L] Book Reviewer sought: _Is Milton Better
> thanShakespeare_?
>
> Dear Scott, and other Miltonists,
> No doubt this will stir up some dust, but may I raise a
> question
> about scholarly reviewing? Perhaps some of you attended the
> interesting roundtable on scholarly reviewing at last year's
> RSA, at
> which many practical and ethical issues were discussed. One that
> occurs to me in this context, especially since I am a Book Review
> Editor myself, is whether it is a good idea to make an open
> call for
> reviewers for a particular book. One specific problem I see
> is that
> such a call might attract someone with a particular axe to grind,
> perhaps even a personal one (whatever a "personal axe" is!), of
> which the review editor may not be aware. I don't mean to
> pick on
> Scott either, since some journals openly list "books for review,"
> and the Sixteenth Century Journal actually had a table of
> such books
> at this year's SCSC, from which any passing scholar might make a
> selection. Thoughts?
> Hannibal
>
>
> On 12/11/08, *Scott Howard* <showard at du.edu
> <mailto:showard at du.edu> <mailto:showard at du.edu
> <mailto:showard at du.edu>>>
>
> wrote:
>
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> We are looking for someone to review Nigel Smith's _Is Milton
> Better than Shakespeare?_ for Volume Two of APPOSITIONS:
> Studies
> in Renaissance / Early Modern Literature & Culture, which
> will
> be published in May, 2009.
>
> If you are interested, please be in touch soon.
>
> Appositions is an electronic, peer-reviewed, international
> journal for studies in Renaissance/early modern
> literature and
> culture. ISSN forthcoming.
>
> Yours,
> Scott Howard
>
> ///
>
> W. Scott Howard
> Associate Professor
> Director of Graduate Studies
> Department of English
> University of Denver
> http://mysite.du.edu/~showard/
>
> ///
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu
> <mailto:Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu>
> <mailto:Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu
> <mailto:Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu>>
>
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
>
> Milton-L web site: http://johnmilton.org/
>
>
>
>
> -- Hannibal Hamlin
> Associate Professor of English
> The Ohio State University
> Burkhardt Fellow,
> The Folger Shakespeare Library
> 201 East Capitol Street SE
> Washington, DC 20003
> hamlin.22 at osu.edu/ <http://hamlin.22@osu.edu/>
> <http://hamlin.22 <http://hamlin.22/>@osu.edu/ <http://osu.edu/>>
> hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com <mailto:hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com>
> <mailto:hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com
> <mailto:hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu <mailto:Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu>
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
>
> Milton-L web site: http://johnmilton.org/
>
> Internal Virus Database is out of date.
> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com/>
> Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.5.2/1562 - Release Date:
> 7/19/2008 2:01 PM
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu <mailto:Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu>
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
>
> Milton-L web site: http://johnmilton.org/
>
>
> --
> Mario A. Di Cesare
> Distinguished Professor (emeritus), SUNY
> Founder & Director, Medieval & Renaissance Texts
> & Studies (MRTS) & Pegasus Paperbooks (1978-1996)
> Director, Pegasus Press (1996-1998; 2002-2004)
> Member, College for Seniors, University of North Carolina
> Center for Creative Retirement at UNC Asheville
>
> 101 Booter Road
> Fairview, NC 28730-8727
> Phone: 828-628-3883
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu <mailto:Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu>
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
>
> Milton-L web site: http://johnmilton.org/
>
>
>
>
> --
> Hannibal Hamlin
> Associate Professor of English
> The Ohio State University
> Burkhardt Fellow,
> The Folger Shakespeare Library
> 201 East Capitol Street SE
> Washington, DC 20003
> hamlin.22 at osu.edu/ <http://hamlin.22@osu.edu/>
> hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com <mailto:hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com>
>
> Internal Virus Database is out of date.
> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
> Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.5.2/1562 - Release Date: 7/19/2008 2:01 PM
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
>
> Milton-L web site: http://johnmilton.org/
--
Mario A. Di Cesare
Distinguished Professor (emeritus), SUNY
Founder & Director, Medieval & Renaissance Texts
& Studies (MRTS) & Pegasus Paperbooks (1978-1996)
Director, Pegasus Press (1996-1998; 2002-2004)
Member, College for Seniors, University of North Carolina
Center for Creative Retirement at UNC Asheville
101 Booter Road
Fairview, NC 28730-8727
Phone: 828-628-3883
More information about the Milton-L
mailing list