Collin's 2006 Slate article on plagiarism has a slight connection
to Pale Fire!
Pale Fire:
Line 347, commentary by CK and "variants":
"And when above the livid plain/ Forked lightning plays, therein may dwell/ The torments of a Tamerlane,/The roar of tyrants torn in
hell."
CK, line 12: [...] "To return to the King: take
for instance the question of personal culture. How often is it that kings engage
in some special research? Conchologists among them can be
counted on the fingers of one maimed hand".
Here it is:
It's long been known that Poe plagiarized an early book,
a hack project titled
The Conchologist's First Book,
* and that Herman Melville swiped many technical passages of
Moby Dick whole from maritime authors like Henry Cheever.
.....................................................................................................
Correction, Dec. 5, 2006: The
article incorrectly stated that The Conchologist's First Book was Poe's
first book. In fact, that would be Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827). The Conchologist
was Poe's only book to go into a second edition during his lifetime.