On 6/2/23 11:36, DM Sataari wrote:
> Yes, I absolutely need this! Please send me the PDF, and thank you!  😍
>
> On Fri, Jun 2, 2023 at 2:33 PM Scott Holmes<[log in to unmask]>  wrote:
>
>> Recently I have been researching the railroads and venues involved with
>> Mark Twain's American Vandals Abroad tour.  The lists of his lectures
>> mention the stop in Lansing, Michigan's Mead's Hall but there is nothing
>> on where this venue was located nor anything about it.  So, I inquired
>> of the Capital District Libraries about its location and one Heidi
>> Butler replied with a wealth of information on locations and name
>> changes but their library did not contain anything about the lecture
>> itself.  Of her own volition she asked the Library of Michigan about
>> it.  They had an archive of /The State Republican, /a weekly paper that
>> published a review of Twain's lecture.  Following is my attempt to
>> transcribe the review.  If anyone wants a copy of the pdf Heidi sent me,
>> let me know and I will forward a copy.
>>
>>
>> *The Lectures of Mark Twain*
>>
>> Last Wednesday evening Mead’s Hall was well filled to hear Mark Twain
>> discourse on the American Vandal abroad. He is a young man, little over
>> thirty years of age, and looks as though he had never been a drawing
>> room pet, but had been used to the rough and tumble, the ups and downs
>> of life. His wit was eminently dry, and the force of his manner, which
>> is natural, and not affected, made it still more striking. He talked
>> easily, walking up and down the stage at a pace that slowly marked the
>> time of his words. His delightful description of Venice by moonlight,
>> the Sphinx, the Acropolis at Athens, were as fine specimens of word
>> painting as can be drawn by any other lecturer. Each of these telling
>> passages would be followed by some humorous comment that would convulse
>> the house with laughter. The lecture was intended to amuse, as well as
>> to instruct, and the object was fully attained. A lecturer tells his own
>> jokes best, and we will not repeat them. Those who heard appreciated the
>> fun, and those who failed to hear, had no business to be somewhere else.
>> The Vandal, who yet disgraces the national name in the classic cities of
>> the old world, was drawn to the life.
>>
>> The real name of Mark Twain is S. L. Clemens, and he was for several
>> years city editor of a paper in Virginia City, Nevada, and first
>> attracted attention of the reading public by contributions to California
>> papers. He was a special correspondent of the New York /Tribune, /and
>> everything he writes adds to his reputation as an American humorist. His
>> manner is judged by many to be affected on the stage, which is untrue,
>> his manner being the same in personal conversation, and an infirmity
>> which, as he says, was honestly inherited.
>>
>> As a humorist lecturer we have no hesitation in giving Mark Twain a
>> decided preference over the renowned Artemus Ward. If Nasby, by the will
>> of Lowell, becomes his successor as a humorist, we think Twain is
>> destined to more than make good the place formerly filled by Ward. He is
>> sure to provoke the hearty laugh that shakes the cobwebs from the ribs.
>> And as laughter is no sin, if it takes the proper time to come in, we
>> hope Twain will make his calling and election sure, and continue to
>> amuse as well as instruct, the grave, austere, American nation.
>>
>> --
>> /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/
>>
-- 
/Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/