Banvard鈥檚 Folly by Paul Collins, Picador, $25, ISBN 0312268866
THE spelling of 鈥渞eknowned鈥� in the full title of Banvard鈥檚 Folly is one of
the Paul Collins鈥檚 little jokes. What he has done is search out remarkable
failures that all entailed prodigious efforts, towering ideas and endless
industry, yet came to nothing in the end. They are splendidly entertaining,
involving farce as well as temporary success before the inevitable disaster. One
or two might be familiar to oddball fanciers鈥擶illiam Ireland, for
instance, the indomitable forger who, threatened by gathering suspicion, knocked
off a passable Shakespeare play that he said he had discovered.
Though the story of N-rays has been told often before, Collins鈥檚 breezy and
amusing style makes it worth another read. He writes with affection, too, about
such dotty characters as the Banvard of the title. John Banvard鈥檚 life鈥檚 work
was to paint the scenery on both banks of the Mississippi from St Louis to New
Orleans on huge canvas scrolls. When unwound together past an audience, the
scrolls gave the illusion of travelling the river. Praised by Dickens, it made
Banvard a millionaire. The stupendous show was even performed for Queen
Victoria, but Banvard died penniless.
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The US has plenty of stories of this sort. Augustus Pleasanton caused a
sensation by pronouncing that the Sun was a reflector and that heat destroyed
gravity. John Symmes claimed that the Earth鈥檚 structure was a series of
concentric spheres, and converted Edgar Allan Poe to the same belief. Collins
keeps all his narratives rollicking along with these dedicated nutcases. Laugh,
but be impressed.