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Mike Pearson |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 20:48:53 -0800 |
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Mike Pearson |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 20:35:22 -0800 |
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Jerry Vorpahl |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 20:16:27 -0800 |
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Arianela . |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 19:25:58 -0800 |
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Shoshana Bailey |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 22:07:32 -0500 |
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McAvoy Layne |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 17:08:02 -0800 |
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Jennifer Zinck |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 19:59:46 -0500 |
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James Edstrom |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 14:30:46 -0800 |
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Mike Pearson |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 13:22:58 -0800 |
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Shoshana Bailey |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 14:21:03 -0500 |
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James Edstrom |
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 10:19:34 -0800 |
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JULES AUSTIN HOJNOWSKI |
Sat, 27 Feb 2016 20:47:21 +0000 |
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Hal Bush |
Sat, 27 Feb 2016 12:03:13 -0600 |
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Scott Holmes |
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 10:25:10 -0800 |
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Peter Salwen |
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 21:49:59 -0500 |
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Barbara Schmidt |
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 17:35:43 -0600 |
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. |
Scott Holmes |
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:26:39 -0800 |
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Barbara Schmidt |
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 15:29:36 -0600 |
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Scott Holmes |
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 13:12:08 -0800 |
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Scott Holmes |
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 09:57:38 -0800 |
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Taylor Roberts |
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 10:09:48 -0500 |
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Ladd, Barbara |
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 14:47:11 +0000 |
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david carkeet |
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 14:39:16 +0000 |
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Dennis Eddings |
Tue, 23 Feb 2016 11:02:39 -0800 |
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John R. Pascal |
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 20:51:09 -0500 |
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Scott Holmes |
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 22:11:45 -0800 |
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Barbara Schmidt |
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 20:19:12 -0600 |
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Carl J. Chimi |
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 00:42:29 +0000 |
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Scott Holmes |
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 16:29:02 -0800 |
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Robert STEWART |
Sat, 13 Feb 2016 21:47:49 +0000 |
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Richey, Ms. Carolyn L |
Tue, 9 Feb 2016 17:43:51 +0000 |
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John Greenman |
Mon, 1 Feb 2016 20:55:24 -0500 |
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Scott Holmes |
Mon, 1 Feb 2016 14:31:46 -0800 |
