​​Conclusion of Research on Susan Bai ley' s Ancestry (1 Message)
​​Conclusion of Research on Susan Bailey' s Ancestry (1 Message)
Call for Papers-- Mark Twain: The Gilded Age Exposed (1 Message)
Chapter 22 of Following the Equator (1 Message)
Charles Casey as The Mark Twain Club (1 Message)
Conclusion of Research on Susan Bailey's Ancestry (by David Carkeet) (11 Messages)
Family (3 Messages)
Hal Holbrook's Birthday Yesterday (1 Message)
HF Update (1 Message)
Just to be sure... (2 Messages)
MARK TWAIN JOURNAL via J-Stor for independent researchers (2 Messages)
More Newspaper Articles by Mark Twain (1 Message)
Mr. Blank and Charles CaseyThe identity of Mr. Blank, the influential Irishman of chapter 25, is a mystery. Miriam Shillingsburg published an article on him in the Mark Twain Journal in 1993. Unfortunately for me, I don't have access to this article save for the first page. It is available through Proquest if your institution has a subscription. I don't have an institution. I also regret that I cannot affort a subscription to the Mark Twain Journal, or any other scholarly journal for that matter. It is a most worthwhile endeavor and I do own a couple of issues pertaining to the Innocents Abroad. Anyway, Barbara Schmidt reports that Ms. Shillingsburg theorizes that Mr. Blank is one of three possible candidates. None of them are Mt. Charles Casey of Pollerton Castle, Carlow, Ireland. Mention of Mr. Casey can be found in the Google teaser for this publication so Ms. Shillingsburg was obviously aware of him. It was with Mr. Casey that Sam Clemens had correspondence, May 15, 1876. “Of course I don't know what you hold, but I “call” you anyway! This being translated means: Tell me about this thing. Really & truly, now, is there a Twain Club?” This sounds just like the fellow Twain is describing in Chapter 25 of Following the Equator and ascribing to Mr. Blank. However, looking into the scant details of Mr. Casey it seems unlikely that he would have traveled to Bendigo, Australia. Also, it seems Mr. Casey was not a bachelor but he was a most curious character. Aside from being a Mark Twain fan, he was quite interested in the Great Pyramid and published a book about its “use and meaning”. “Philitis, a condensed account of the use and meaning of the Great Pyramid”. First published in 1872, it went through several editions until the fifth in 1880. Casey had also written about Darwinism. I don't know if he was thinking about Charles Darwin or Herbert Spencer. It's possible Mr. Casey became interested in the Great Pyramid from reading “The Innocents Abroad”. There is an entry in the “Papers of Ulysses S. Grant” dated 1873, July 4, a request from Charles Casey, Carlow, Ireland to USG: “I very much desire some official recognition of my existence as a U.S. citizen during my exile in the Island of Pigs Politics – Punch – & potatoes, and would be pleased at some unpaid appointment as that conceded to “Mark Twains' fellow passenger on the Quaker City – but not quite so wide in scope...” He remarks on having two sons, ages 8 and 6 years. It's possible the Mr. Blank was indeed the author of the reported death of Mark Twain in Melbourne and I suppose it is possible he did sail with Henry Bascomb, around the world. But, I suspect Mark Twain conflated the Mark Twain Club of Carrington/Pollerton castle with Mr. Blanks' antics because he wanted to tell the story of the club and Mr. Blank provided a convenient Irishman for the job, nevermind that Casey was actually an American expatriot. (1 Message)
The Badge from the Mark Twain Club of Corrigan Castle (1 Message)
The Silver Dollar (1 Message)
The skull(s) of Julius Caesar (4 Messages)